Gin starts as a neutral grain spirit, then takes on its character through botanicals, either steeped directly in the spirit (maceration) or suspended above it in a basket so vapour carries the flavour through (vapour infusion). At Brass Lion, Singapore's pioneering craft gin distillery, the choice between the two depends entirely on what each botanical needs. Get it wrong and you lose the thing that made you choose that ingredient in the first place.
That is the short version. The longer one involves a lot of decisions, and a still handcrafted in Germany that we call Nala.
It Starts Before the Still
Before anything gets distilled, there is a botanical selection to make. At Brass Lion, ingredients are sourced from local TCM shops, wet markets, and our own herb garden. Each one is processed by hand, crushed, peeled, or prepared depending on its structure and what we need it to do in the still.
This part of the process is less visible than distillation, but it is where a lot of the flavour decisions actually happen. A botanical that is cut too coarsely, or steeped for too long, will give you something muddled rather than precise. The ingredient work sets the ceiling for everything that follows.
Maceration, Vapour Infusion, and Why the Method Matters
Not all botanicals behave the same way in distillation, and treating them as if they do is how you end up with a gin that tastes flat or one-dimensional.
More fibrous botanicals, roots and dense spices, go directly into the still with the base spirit. They steep in the liquid (maceration), releasing their flavour compounds slowly before the heat is applied. The structure of these ingredients can take the direct contact.
More fragile botanicals are handled differently. Delicate flowers, peels and lighter aromatics go into a botanical basket, suspended above the liquid in the still. When the spirit heats up, the rising vapour passes through the basket and picks up the flavour gently on its way through. It is a slower transfer, more precise, and it preserves qualities that direct steeping would simply cook off.
At Brass Lion, the decision about which method to use for which botanical in which expression is part of what we spent years refining.
Meet Nala
Nala is our hybrid copper pot and column still, handcrafted by master coppersmiths in Germany. The copper matters: it reacts with the spirit during distillation, removing sulphur compounds and producing a cleaner, smoother result than a stainless steel still would. The shape of the pot, the height of the column, the angle of the lyne arm, all of these influence the final character of the spirit in ways that are difficult to fully separate from the botanical choices themselves.
Nala is also named in a tradition worth knowing about. Distilling was historically a craft practised by women, often at home, producing remedies and medicines for their families. History's first recorded distiller was a woman. Many stills carry women's names in her honour. Ours is no different.
Small-Batch: What It Actually Means
Small-batch gets used loosely in the spirits industry, so it is worth being specific about what it means in practice. At Brass Lion, distilling in small batches means we are running Nala through a limited volume each time, which gives us a level of control over the process that larger, automated production simply does not allow.
Each batch can be adjusted. If a botanical is expressing differently because of a seasonal variation in the ingredient, we can tweak it. The person making the decision is in the room with the still, not reading a dial remotely or relying on pure automation. This gives us better control over the product and is what makes the consistency of Brass Lion gins a craft achievement rather than a manufacturing one.
Is Gin Just Flavoured Vodka?
It is a reasonable question, and the honest answer is: technically, yes. Both start from a neutral grain spirit, and gin is, at its most basic, that spirit flavoured with botanicals. So why does it feel reductive to say so?
Because the law puts real constraints on what counts as gin, and those constraints are what give it character. Juniper must be the dominant flavour. That is not a stylistic choice, it is a requirement. Everything else in the botanical recipe like torch ginger, pomelo peels or chrysanthemum, works in relation to that juniper backbone. A neutral spirit with added flavouring that does not lead with juniper is not gin. It is something else.
Process matters too. Compound gin, the most basic category, adds flavourings to neutral spirit after the fact, no redistillation required. Distilled gin, which is what Brass Lion makes, requires the botanicals to go through the still. That step changes everything. The flavours are not sitting on top of the spirit. They are part of it. Which is probably why nobody calls it flavoured vodka after they taste it.
See It in Person
The Distillery Tour at 40 Alexandra Terrace covers the full process, from botanical preparation through to bottling, with Nala at the centre of it. Saturdays and Sundays at 3pm. The tour ends with a tasting flight of our signature range. Book your tour here or email experiences@brassliondistillery.pro for group enquiries.
FAQ
What is the minimum number of botanicals in gin?
Technically, one: juniper. The law requires juniper to be present and dominant, but there is no minimum beyond that. In practice, most craft gins use significantly more. The Singapore Dry Gin uses 22 botanicals, each chosen for a specific flavour contribution and connection to Singapore.
How long does it take to make a batch of gin?
It depends on the expression and the method. Maceration alone can take anywhere from several hours to overnight before distillation begins. The distillation run itself typically takes several hours.
