Thank you. I, too, use Fever Tree Indian Tonic. I was not keen on the idea of green tea and gin, so I’m glad to learn of your first hand experience. Sounds like a “pass” for me!
Place a third vote on the no tea in gin. I found the Drumshanbo virtually undrinkable.
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Song Cai, a vietnamese gin, has a lovely modern profile with good floral elements, juniper, and a fairly distinct anise/black licorice jelly bean note that holds on the finish. If you’re a fan of gins with a stronger licorice note, I would recommend giving this a try. It is otherwise very well made and balanced.
I know purists want gin juniper forward with as few botanicals as possible, but I love complex gins full of different botanicals. The more the better. My favorite go to gins are:
- The Botanist 22 from Bruichladdich Distillery on Islay, Scotland
- Dillon’s Unfiltered Gin 22 from Niagara, Ontario, Canada. The local Canadian version of the above, made with a distilled grape spirit base as opposed to a grain base and 22 locally foraged botanicals.
- Mistral Gin from Provence, France. A dry Rosé gin with 12 botanicals made with a spirit base distilled from Provence Rosé wine.
- Dancing Sands Sauvignon Blanc Gin from New Zealand. A relatively new gin (at least to me, it only recently made it into the LCBO here), it is made with a spirit base distilled from New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc grapes. New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc is already famous for its herbal and fruity flavors so it’s a natural match for distilling Gin. This one has a mere 8 botanicals and is spice forward.
I personally find grape spirit based gin has a cleaner flavor but I recognize that grain spirit based vodka is much richer in body. You can definitely taste the difference in richness and body between The Botanist and the Dillon’s.
Made the drive to P’cola for some fish and timed it to hit the ABC there. They had Citadelle marked down to $24 which in my market is usually around $32. It makes a nice clean Martini and is also good in Negroni.
2 new to me gins:
Gray Whale, which included a free four pack of Fever tree which made the effective price a bit lower.
The Monkey 47 Bathing Ape Edition.
The Gray whale I have had in a gin and tonic, would characterize as light and refreshing. Nothing very distinctive. Haven’t made a Martini yet. The Monkey 47 remains unopened.
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https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-11-15/the-14-best-new-wine-and-spirits-for-holiday-parties-and-home-entertaining?leadSource=uverify%20wall
Procera Blue Dot sounds interesting, Empirical symphony no.6 sounds very interesting
Hendricks is go to.
I’ll agree on the Procera. The Empirical sounds a bit odd.
No idea what most of these Gins actually are but there are over a hundred coming up for auction. Depending on the pricing I might take a flyer on some.
Does anybody have experience with any of these?
Bought a new one the other day.
St Laurent - Product of Canada
Tried in a Negroni, Gin and Tonic and Martini.
Completely undrinkable in any of the above. Overshadowed everything. Probably the worst Gin i have ever had.
Has a mildew like aroma and a very offputing almost fish sauce like taste. I’m not sure it would be good for anything other than fire starter at this point.
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Anyone try this yet? I bought it for the holiday weekend.
Update- A little too floral for me. It was decent in a G&T with a small grapefruit wedge, but I don’t think I would enjoy it in a Negroni or Martini.
Not a repeat purchase for me.
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I bought this and tried it this weekend. Back on a gin kick as the summer heat starts up in Dallas. Had this and Tulchan, a newish Speyside gin that I believe is owned by one of the big boy groups.
I found the Flora Adora to be an interesting blend of two previous Cabinet releases, Orbium and Midsummer. Orbium rolls off a big juniper and cinchona bitter element, and Midsummer is sweeter and intensely floral. I was surprised that they pushed a Floral drive Cabinet after Midsummer as mission accomplished already.
But I found the Flora Adora to have more of a juniper-driven spicy backbone with a refreshing bitter element missing in Midsummer, but with a rosy, floral accent. I wouldn’t say it was too floral for my tastes, like Midsummer or Nolets, but I am not convinced that the botanicals used really meld together in harmony. It’s an alright gin, but probably not a repeat purchase for me either.
Tulchan is a london dry style from a speyside distillery. It’s a fairly down the middle tasty gin that is overpriced for what it is. Fairly bright profile with decent juniper, citrus, and light herbal notes for a clean finish. Tasty and easy, good in a gin and tonic. A middle shelf gin that just lacks a little pop for me. But I’d be happy to have it if offered.
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Ferdinand’s Saar Dry Gin
This is a grain based gin with 30 botanicals infused during a single distillation process, with some tiny bit of riesling added during the dilution process. It is bottled under cork, which is a massive pain in the ass, to be honest, since it’s tough to get the cork out and then it expands, making re-sealing the bottle a bit of a pain.
I’m not sure how well this will hold up long term with the infusion of riesling, but it’s really pretty solid gin on opening. This has a nice modern profile of crisp citrus, lemon thyme, juniper, a hint of pine forest, and a tail end of soft floral notes. Overall, it is nicely complex, fairly well balance, and very smooth. I would think this would excel in a martini with a lemon twist. With a slice of lime and fever tree indian tonic it’s a solid G&T but maybe not a standout. Glad to have it in the collection. Perhaps a bit steep on the asking price, but a quality product.
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Vanagandr London Dry Gin - Folks, I’ve got a confession to make. I can’t decide whether this gin is corked despite no inclusion of cork in the product (I know, that’s not a condition precedent) or if it’s just shit. The nose gives an initial impression of juniper, citrus, and cinnamon, but then turns herbaceous and to a smell akin to or actually TCA.
I’ve tried it a few times and self doubt is eating at me. I would love it if someone else would shell out $75 for a bottle of this and let me know whether it’s plonk or if my bottle is somehow corked and just awful.
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For me, I am currently really enjoying the Four Pillars bottles, in particular their Olive Branch and Yuzu. Highly recommend a G&T with the Olive Branch, Fever Tree Mediterranean Tonic, and if you’re feeling wild, a small splash of Manzanilla sherry. So good!
My current other go-to is Isle of Harris. The kelp influence is really noticeable and I love that salty sea profile.
Love Isle of Harris! Agree on the salty sea profile. Makes a great gin and tonic (go light on the tonic). I only wish it was more widely available.
I also like Isle of Harris. It’s made my “top shelf” in the cabinet. But for me it’s not an every day g+t as the herbaceousness from the kelp is pretty strong. Good and well made though, no denying that.
Ferdinand’s is one of my go-to gins for mixing anything floral or citrusy. Makes a really nice French 75, for example. After opening, I use an OXO bottle stopper (press down on the mushroom cap to seal) and have had no issues with oxidation or “changes” in the Riesling component over the span of several months.
Not as complex as Monkey 47, but nice in its own way.
Mr. Pickles Pacific Northwest Gin from Wolf Spirit Distillery in Eugene, Oregon. I was assured this was a serious gin, despite the ridiculous aqua colored glass bottle featuring a stoic fairly cute and unmenacing Pit Bull with an overlarge collar, surrounded by a gilt frame and flowers.
It’s an enjoyable gin, with soft juniper notes, a background of citrus and pine, with very faint notes of herbs covered in part by a somewhat sweeter palate. Silky smooth and almost too easy to drink. This is not one of those modern ultra-botanical gins. Instead, it’s a sweeter, more subtle approach to gin, but still flavorful enough to stand up in a gin and tonic, and to provide pleasure in an easy drinking martini. Not a world beater, but one that will have your glass emptier sooner than you anticipated.
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Bought this on a whim thinking it would probably be cloying ect.
Surprised was me as this is a very good take on the Bombay Sapphire staple. Just nice clean, crisp lemon note here. Probably wouldn’t make much of a difference if diluted much, but makes a nice sip straight or probably an excellent Martini.
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