A true taste of Australia is the hallmark on a new gin

The team at award-winning Canberra distillery Underground Spirits like to approach things a little differently. 

Underground Spirits recently released a new limited-edition gin on the Australian market, the second bottling of the popular Ad Crescendum Gin, a collaboration with the Australian National Botanical Gardens. 

Known as Ad Crescendum var. Flosferam (not the catchiest name, marketing types) the new gin features the flavours of some of the Garden’s Australian natives. This edition follows on from a successful collaboration in 2020 with the Australian National Botanic Gardens launched for their 50-year anniversary. 

Collaborating with the gardens means Underground had access to deep botanical knowledge which aided the selection, foraging and handpicking of the botanicals that went into this year’s recipe. 

When trying to find the ‘true taste of Australia’ in the gardens, Underground focused on the new Banksia Garden. 

The finished gin landed with native specimens like Banksia ericifolia (Red Cluster, Heath Leaved Banksia), Austromyrtus dulcis (Midgen Berry), Brachychiton populneus (Kurrajong) and Lemon Scented Gum. 

Part of the profits from this gin help support native plant conservation activities conducted by the Gardens.  

“It’s been amazing to taste the final product," said Underground Spirits’ CEO, Claudia Roughley. 

"It really is an amazing interpretation of what the Gardens’ Banksia Garden tastes like and that’s not a sense that you instantly consider when you’re visiting the gardens. Most people are content to look, smell and touch what’s growing at the foot of Black Mountain – now with this gin, you can taste it as well. 

“Gin is growing in popularity across the country and there is a real movement to find true Australian tastes and recipes that no one else can replicate and quality that can’t be copied. And that is what Ad Crescendum has become for us. 

“Having access to the nation’s leading botanic garden, its plants and its talented horticulturalists has really given us all the ingredients to authentically produce a taste of the Australian bush. And it’s a taste that is a world first – there’s no native Banksia-inspired gins anywhere on the market right now, and we’re proud to be trail blazing in this space with the Australian National Botanic Gardens team.”  

Ad Crescendum var. Flosferam is now on sale for $95 online direct from www.undergroundspirits.com.au and at other speciality independent liquor retailers and bottle shops.