Review: McQueen Batch 1 London Dry Gin

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Free sample bottle provided by Atom Brands.

McQueen Batch 1 London Dry Gin was Distilled by Trossachs Distillery  for That Boutique-y Gin Company and bottled at 42% ABV. 

Price: $36.67 for 500ml or $4.01 for 30ml

In 2015, Vicky and Dale McQueen founded the Trossachs Distillery in Callander, Scotland. Before opening their distillery Vicky was a chef and baker, and Dale was a mechanical engineer. The McQueen's distill six different gins: Super Premium Dry Gin, Spiced Chocolate Orange Gin, Sweet Citrus Gin, Chocolate Mint Gin, Smokey Chilli Gin, and Mocha Gin. The McQueen Batch 1 London Dry Gin takes a classic gin botanical mix (probably juniper, coriander, angelica, cassia, orris, and  cardamom) and adds in orange peel and cocoa nibs. 

TASTING NOTES

Nose: The nose is a very pleasant combination of citrus and juniper. Underneath the top notes is an aroma like black iced tea or perhaps cucumber.  

Palate: The palate is very smooth and pleasant with a note of chocolate and orange peel up front. As the flavor develops in the mouth, notes of juniper and orris root shine through. 

Finish: The finish is mild and warm with notes of milk chocolate, orange and juniper.

Conclusion: McQueen Batch 1 London Dry Gin is a nice gin that would work well in a martini or gin & tonic. Overall the chocolate flavor is very mild and seams to add to both the structure and the mouth feel of the gin.

Thank you to Master of Malt and That Boutique-y Gin Company for providing the free sample.

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Review: Hernö Distillery Batch 1 London Dry Gin

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Free sample bottle provided by Atom Brands.

Hernö Distillery Batch 1 London Dry Gin was distilled at the Hernö Distillery for That Boutique-y Gin Company and bottled at 46.2% ABV

Price: $41.00 for 500ml or $4.50 for 30ml

The Hernö Distillery is located in the village of Dala just outside the City of Härnösand in Ångermanland, Sweden. Dala is in an area called The High Coast, which is a UNESCO world heritage area. Out of this small village, Jon Hillgren, founder of Hernö has been producing some of the world's best gin. In 2016, the International Wine and Spirits Competition named Hernö Gin the Gin Producer of the Year. 

The standard Hernö Gin includes juniper, coriander seeds, fresh lemon peel, lingonberries, meadowsweet, black pepper, cassia, and fresh vanilla. For this bottling, gin expert David T. Smith of Summer Fruit Cup worked Hillgren to formulate a variation on his standard recipe to include rose petal and blended in gin that had been aged in casks made from juniper wood. 

TASTING NOTES

Nose: The nose has bright citrus notes of lemon and orange zest with a hint of juniper and coriander underneath. As the gin has some time to breath I got a slightly earthy floral note that reminded me of black iced tea.

Palate: On the palate the gin has a very smooth texture with notes of juniper up front creating a warm and slightly piney flavor. There is also a very pleasant earthiness in the gin that imagine coming from the coriander. 

Finish: The gin has a medium finish that is semi-dry and bitter with lingering flavors of juniper, and citrus. 

Conclusion: Hernö Distillery Batch 1 London Dry Gin is an excellent classic gin with great body that probably comes from blending in some cask aged spirit. I think this bottling from Hernö and That Boutique-y Gin Company would be an great choice for both a dry martini and a gin & tonic. 

Thank you to Master of Malt and That Boutique-y Gin Company for providing the free sample.

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Review: Shortcross Batch 1 London Dry Gin

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Free sample bottle provided by Atom Brands.

Shortcross Batch 1 London Dry Gin was Distilled by Rademon Estate Distillery for That Boutique-y Gin Company and bottled at 46% ABV. 

Price: $41.00 for 500ml or $4.49 for 30ml

For this bottling, That Boutique-y Gin Company (TBGC) commissioned Batch 1 of a London Dry Gin from Northern Ireland's Rademon Estate Distillery, the makers of Shortcross Gin. While Batch 1 does not include a full list of botanicals, it does state that it includes blackberries and apples foraged from the Rademon Estate.

That Boutique-y Gin Company is an independent bottler of gin. Most bottlings from TBGC are either new gins commissioned from a well known gin distiller or they will buy a gin experiment from a distiller that taste good but doesn't match the flavor profile of the distiller's regular gin.

Independent bottlers have been around for a long time in the Scotch world. Johnnie Walker started off as an independent bottler and Compass Box is doing an excellent job of continuing that tradition. However, as far as I know TBGC is the first independent bottler to seek out and bottle limited-edition gins from some of the world's best gin distilleries. For years whiskey lovers have been able to seeking out independent bottlings of their favorite bourbons or Scotch whiskies and taste the nuances of a new blend or barrel carefully selected by the bottler.  Now this same experience is available for gin lovers looking to taste a new gin from their favorite distillers. 

TASTING NOTES

Nose: The nose has a strong note of alcohol that carries a pleasant bouquet of citrus and floral notes. 

Palate: On the palate the gin has a light, crisp and clean body. Flavors of bright lime peel, and coriander come through with a slightly floral note. 

Finish: The finish is warm and lingers with flavors of bright lime zest and lemon leaves.

Conclusion: Shortcross Batch 1 London Dry Gin is an excellent gin and I think it would work particularly well in a gin & tonic. On its own, the gin needs  a little dilution to mute the alcohol and allow the wonderful citrus and floral notes to sing. That being said it will work well in a number of classic gin cocktails. 

Thank you to Master of Malt and That Boutique-y Gin Company for providing the free sample.

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Asparagus Gin: Some Vintage Spirits Should Probably Remain Forgotten

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Not long ago David T. Smith of Summer Fruit Cup wrote a book entitled Forgotten Spirits & Long Lost Liqueurs that in part was a continuation of the work Ted Haigh put together in Vintage Spirits and Forgotten Cocktails. In Forgotten Spirits David describes a number of flavored gins that were popular in the early twentieth century such as apple gin, mint gin and even maple gin. However, asparagus gin caught my eye.

For two short years in San Francisco, CA the Folsom Asparagus Gin Company produced an asparagus compound gin from 1916-1918. The idea of this gin intrigued me and I figured since I live in San Francisco and I have access to fresh asparagus in season I decided to try my hand at replicating it.

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I purchased one bunch of organic asparagus grown in California's Central Valley and 750ml bottle of Taaka Extra Dry Distilled London Dry Gin produced by Sazerac Co. in Frankfort, KY. On its own, Taaka was a surprisingly good classic gin for $9! I washed and cut the asparagus and put the fresh pieces in a 1.75L glass bottle and poured the gin on top. I let the maceration sit a room temperature for 24 hours in my liquor cabinet. After the 24 hours I strained the asparagus gin with a coffee filter to catch any particles and decanted the gin back into the Taaka bottle. 

In my mind the idea of asparagus gin seemed like it could work. I imagined the vegetal notes layering on top of the traditional gin botanicals and perhaps taking on a light green color. In reality it came out a bit different.

Tasting Notes

Color: In the bottle the color is a dark yellow but in the glass it lightens some and the color looks more like is a golden yellow somewhere between straw and honey.

Nose: The nose has a very strong aroma of fresh asparagus and a green note like chlorophyll.  There is also a pungent quality to it like wet grass that has been cut and left to decay in the hot sun. All of your typical gin aromas have disappeared. 

Palate: On the palate as you first take a sip there is the first hint of gin with a slightly warm and piney character. However, that is quickly swallowed up by a very strong vegetal flavor like the water after making steamed asparagus.

Finish: The finish is hauntingly long of over cooked asparagus and the faintest hints of juniper. 

Conclusion: On its own and in this concentration DIY asparagus gin was way too strong and not pleasant.

Experiments

I now know that one bunch of asparagus was way too much for one 750ml bottle of gin. So I decided to try cutting the concentration and see what happened. Since all of the gin notes disappeared, I decided to cut it with another gin rather than vodka.

Experiment #1: 1 part asparagus gin to 7 parts classic gin. The funky asparagus gin totally disappears on the nose and on the palate. However, the overcook asparagus note came through on the finish which kind of ruined the base gin.

Experiment #2: 1 part asparagus gin to 7 parts contemporary citrus forward gin. Once again the asparagus funk disappeared on the nose but it gave the gin a slightly more earthy body which wasn't bad. The finish also had a bit of the asparagus character and it didn't completely ruin the base gin. Neat the finish would probably be a bit off putting for most people. That being said, I could see this compound gin of asparagus and citrus forward gin working well in a dry martini with an olive or even a Red Snapper. 

Concluding Conclusion: In the end, asparagus in small quantities could be an interesting botanical to add into a larger gin recipe, however asparagus gin the way I made it and probably the way the Folsom Asparagus Gin Company made theirs is best to be forgotten.

Review: Kirk and Sweeney 18 Year Old Rum

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Free sample bottle provided by 3 Badge.

Kirk and Sweeney 18 Year Old Rum is owned by 3 Badge Beverage Corporation (August Sebastiani) based in Sonoma, CA, Distilled, Aged and Blended by J. Armando Bermúdez & Co. in Santiago de los Caballeros, Dominican Republic, and Imported and Bottled by Frank-Lin Distillers Products in Fairfield, CA at 40% ABV. 

Price: $49 MSRP

This 18 year old rum is named after the schooner Kirk and Sweeney, that in 1924 was seized off the cost of New York by the US Coast Guard for rum running. While 3 Badge does not make this information public, Kirk and Sweeney is most likely produced at the Bermúdez Distillery since it is located in Santiago de los Caballeros, D.R. If this indeed the case then the rum is fermented from blackstrap molasses and column distilled. Some of this fresh rum is put into ex-bourbon barrels and aged for 18 years in a brick warehouse. After this rum has fully matured, the barrels are pulled, vatted, and this blended is shipped to Frank-Lin Distillers where they bottle it at 40% ABV.

The onion shaped bottle is quite impressive and modeled after 18th-century bottles used to ship rum and other spirits. The bottle has a substantial weight to it and the screen printed label depicts the eponymous schooner, compass rose, Dominican Republic, and Long Island, NY. The natural cork closure is held closed with a gold foil sticker tape printed with the latitude and longitude coordinates for where the rum was seized off the coast of Long Island.

Tasting Notes

Nose: The nose is bursting with vanilla and beneath that there is the aroma of molasses and a faint note of cinnamon.

Palate: The  rum is smooth and has a full body with only a slight hint of sweetness which is more inferred from the strong vanilla flavor than actual sugar. The vanilla is somewhat balanced with wood flavors and a dry tannins. Lying dormant below the vanilla are subtle notes of coco powder,  burnt sugar, and slight smokiness from the ex-bourbon barrel.

Finish: The finish has more vanilla, more oak and is bone dry with a slight mineral quality from the molasses. There is also a lingering note of coco that covers the tongue. 

Conclusion: Kirk and Sweeney 18 Year Old Dominican Rum is a very smooth sipping rum though like the 12 year old, it is a little lacking in depth of character. Tasting it side by side to the 12 they are obviously different but at the same time almost indistinguishable from each other. I wonder if the extra $10 price tag has any impact on its appeal or make it less attractive. I believe the Kirk and Sweeney 18 cold be a good fit for a rum drinker that wants a sipping rum in the vain of Ron Zacappa 23 but with stronger vanilla character. 

Thank you to Folsom + Associates for providing the free sample.