For a long time I’ve been pretty leery of domestic gin. Generally, I have found most of them pretty disappointing. Sure, I have found a few good ones, bit this isn’t one.
Whenever I try a new spirit, I pour about 20ml into a small wine glass or sherry glass and add an equal measure of still water. This allows me to clearly taste the flavours of the spirit without being overwhelmed by the alcohol and to inhale the aromas as they are released. I’ll swirl the glass as if it was wine, to really get an idea of what the product has to offer.
My first impression was, “This isn’t gin.” Not even a hint of juniper, in fact there is more juniper on the label than in the bottle, so I was a bit disappointed. But, of course, I had to give it a chance, so went through the usual routine with a new gin; after the initial tasting, let’s make a gin and tonic and see how it stands up. Well, it didn’t pass that test, not enough guts to make it interesting over the tonic. So, I tried it as a Tom Collins; if you go easy on the lemon juice, it’s makes quite a light refreshing drink, but still nothing to write home about.
My next test of a gin is then a martini. Having made and imbibed more than a few, I do like to mic and match gins in a martini, but with a new new gin, just a straight up gin with a splash of dry vermouth, stirred over ice into a chilled glass with an olive or a lemon twist. Neither were anything to rave about.
The finally test for a new gin is the Negroni. Honestly I wasn’t hopeful, so I wasn’t really disappointed when that turned out to be a waste of time and ingredients.
Oh well, I tried.