Drinking The World

G'Vine Nouaison Gin is 43.9% abv. / 87.8 proof. I wrote about G'Vine Floraison Gin and now have the pleasure to write about their new product which just rolled out in the US. Normally I let samples of spirits sit for awhile, but I was waiting eagerly to try this gin and had it opened the evening it arrived. G'Vine Nouaison contains nine main botanicals: ginger root, licorice, green cardamom, cassia bark, coriander, cubeb berries, juniper berries, nutmeg, and lime. Plus an additional botanical that their Floraison Gin is known fro, a small touch of grape vine flowers, but nowhere near the amount seen in the G'Vine Floraison

The aroma is elegant and refined, clean and pure, like how the air smells right after a Autumn downpour. Hints of ginger, lime, and juniper come through, with floral and spicy tones as well. A classic gin aroma, but with just a bit more oomph to it. Almost a metallic aroma at times, in a good way, like titanium and platinum. This is ginny, gin, gin. The taste starts off with a nice juniper hit, followed by hints of nutmeg and other spices, and lime. It's smooth, elegant, and in the classic London Dry Style, but with a slightly bigger and bolder, but not overwhelming, taste.

The G'Vine Nouaison Gin is a much more refined gin than the floral powerhouse of the G'Vine Floraison. This is a gin that seems made for sipping on the rocks, but even more so, for a classic dry martini, Just a little vermouth, and a lemon twist, or maybe a lime twist to bring out more of the light lime that's hiding in the background. I think you will see a lot of this gin in premium cocktails starting very soon, and from what I've heard it's sweeping the awards.

Zuidam Genever Gin is 40% abv. / 80 proof and is a Genever or Holland style gin that is very different from the London Dry style of gin since it is based on malt liquor rather than neutral spirits. Genever is considered the original style of gin and is heavier and sweeter. Zuidam Genever can be considered the beefier cousin to Zuidam Dry Gin that I reviewed a few years ago, although it is much lighter and more refined than typical Genever's.

The aroma is big, warm, malty; with a solid juniper base overlain with a variety of herbs and spices like juniper, licorice root, vanilla, aniseed and marjoram which are some of the botanicals used in this gin.

The taste starts out with the malty, almost whiskey-like base rapidly followed by juniper, licorice, and aniseed. Spicy, big, but not over the top. This is very different from both London Dry styles and other Genever's I've tried. it's somewhere in the middle, but leaning more towards the musky complexity of the Genever family. Genever is usually drunk ice cold in small, short stemmed shot type glasses (or occasionally on the rocks) and served with food. This is very much in the Scandinavian Aquavit or Russian vodka style of drinking it ice cold during the meal. if you love gin, but are looking for something different, then I recommend you try a Genever, and start out with Zuidam.

Gilbey's London Dry Gin is 40% abv. / 80 proof. Although it says "London Dry Gin" this refers to the style, and the gin is made in the US according to the original British recipe.

The aroma is a nice, light and floral juniper base, a hint of sweet orange zest and earthy angelica root floats along on top of a melange of other spices and herbs. This is a classic London Dry style gin. Very aromatic and complex, but clean and dry. Gilbey's is a very pleasant smelling gin; and you can tell that it's well made just from the aroma that must contain at least 8-10 botanicals. I tried to research what the actual botanicals are, but to no avail.

The taste is clean, light, dry, and very smooth. Juniper, spices, citrus, all blended well together so that they don't overwhelm each other. This is one of what I consider the trademarks of a classic London Dry style. This is a gin that can play all the bases; on the rocks, cocktails, highballs. Not expensive, but a great bang for the buck, you can't go wrong; and you could do much worse.

Rehorst Premium Milwaukee Gin is 44% abv. / 88 proof and is made in Milwaukee, WI by Great Lakes Distillery. I shot off an email to Guy Rehorst and asked him about the botanicals used in his gin and he got back to me immediately. He says it is made with nine botanicals: Juniper, Coriander, Cardamom, Saigon Cassia, Lemon peel, Orange peel, Anise, and two additional botanicals which it seems have never been used before to make a gin; Wisconsin Ginseng and Sweet Basil. Premium Wisconsin Ginseng is considered the finest ginseng in the world and eagerly sought after in Asia.

The aroma is big, really BIG. It instantly makes me think of some of the other new American style big gins out there like Bluecoat, Aviation, Back River, No. 6, etc. but it definitely has its own thing going on when it comes to the specifics. The base aroma is juniper, covered by a blanket of herbs and citrus, earthy roots, floral notes, you name it, but all so well blended that none rises too much above the rest. It's a bewitching and beguiling aroma. This is another one folks. A gin that grabbed me by the nose and I spent minutes just absorbing it all without even taking a taste. I love that the cardamom is present, but not overwhelming, and the hints of anise balance it out. I place this in my top five for best aroma, out of the many gins I have tried over the years.

The taste is very herbal, with the juniper again as a base note. Citrus winks through, a dash of sweetness, followed by a pleasantly sharp, lip tingling tang from the anise and cardamom. My mouth and then sinuses filled up with a burst of botanicals flooding through my head. I added a bit of ice and even more of the big botanical presence came through, a splash of water increased it even more so.

This is a big, big gin. One that says, "Here I am guys... Whatcha gonna do about it!"

Seagram's Distiller's Reserve Gin is 51% abv. / 102 proof and like the Seagram's Extra Dry Gin is aged in oak barrels for a period of time. Seagram's Gin is the only barrel aged gin on the market. Seagram's Distiller's Reserve is the combination of the best of the barrels as selected out of hundreds by Seagram's Master Distiller. The ones that have the richest character and most distinctive aroma and taste are blended at barrel proof strength to create this gin. The higher strength of the spirit is definitely noticeable when sipped straight.

The color is a very pale straw yellow from the barrel aging. The aroma is similar to the Extra Dry, but much more so. The blend of citrus, spices, and juniper is strong, but well balanced. Juniper takes the forefront with citrus holding it up, and the spicy and herbal notes floating along pleasantly behind. Not as bold as some of the new, big, in your face, American gins, the Seagram's Distiller's Reserve sets a new standard in gin as a classically styled, American dry gin.

The flavor is also bolder than the Extra Dry without being too bold. Elegant; mild citrus, juniper, and herbs. This gin will add its input to any cocktail or highball it is in, without demanding the primary role. It makes an excellent G&T where it expresses itself enough to stand up to the tonic, without being brash about it.

Burnett's London Dry Gin is 40% abv. / 80 proof and the US version is made by Heaven Hill Distillery according to Sir Robert Burnett's 1770 recipe. It is a distilled gin which means that the botanicals are distilled with neutral spirits to create the gin. This is the method used by premium quality gins and it is surprising to see a gin in the lower price range made this way, this well.

The aroma is light and crisp with a citrus and juniper nose with hints of spice and black pepper finishing with a slight earthy tone that is from some root botanical, maybe angelica. It has a nice, complex smell and I wish I knew more about the botanicals in the recipe. I wrote to Heaven Hill a few months ago and after several emails back and forth still couldn't get them to give me any details.

The flavor is light and in the classic London Dry style. Juniper, spices in the peppery realm, and citrus come on smoothly and softly, and in a clean way. Burnett's is a great gin for mixing in cocktails and highballs, especially a gin and tonic, or anything else where you want a gin presence, but not one of the overwhelming powerhouses not suitable for most cocktails. It also tastes fine on the rocks, for when you want nice, light, crisp gin; and not anything else.

Reisetbauer Blue Gin Vintage '06 is 43% abv. / 86 proof and is made by Hans Reisetbauer, the renowned, premier Austrian distiller of fine eau de vie. Don't let the name or the photo fool you, because to the eye this gin is crystal clear. The gin starts with wheat and corn used in making the base distillate and then over twenty premium botanicals sourced from more than ten countries are used, including Egypt, China, Spain, Indonesia, Macedonia, The Netherlands, Romania, Turkey, USA, and Vietnam.

The aroma is strongly spicy that starts sharp and then follows with warm floral notes that are incredibly complex but very clean. It's a pleasure to inhale the smell of this gin.

I see why the gin is called Blue since the aroma definitely brings to mind a certain blueness, like that of a clear blue sky on a crisp autumn day, right after the night of a major storm.

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Desert Juniper Gin is 41% abv. / 82 proof and like its more powerful sibling, Cascade Mountain Gin, is made by Bend Distillery in Bend, OR. This bottle is micro-distilled, hand bottled and numbered and from Batch # 124.

It has a light gold/yellow color to it and the aroma is that of very light juniper, citrus, and fruit; smelling slightly sweet, sharp, and dry at the same time. Its not as piney and floral as the Cascade Mountain and has a much softer and fuller aroma with some nice notes that are hard to pin down, but there seems to be a slightest hint of cedar going on and as it warms up even a warm touch of hazelnuts. What first started out very mild, develops depth and complexity in the nose.

The taste starts off very light and soft. Then you get a mild fruitiness and sweetness that develops; with just a touch of juniper, fruit and nuts. This is a light and mild gin that is smooth and soft. Tasted next to Cascade Mountain you immediately notice the difference. Desert Juniper is the soft and delicate, dusky younger sister to Cascade Mountain's big, sharp, and bold; mountain man big brother. This is a very nice gin, but on the lighter and more delicate end of the gin spectrum. If using with a mixer I would tend to stick lighter tasting juices like just a dash of grapefruit juice or tonic; and if in a martini, then very dry.

Hendrick's Gin is 44% abv. / 88 proof and is distilled in Scotland. I tasted Hendrick's for the first time around 7-8 years or more ago when I stopped by the New Hampshire state liquor store on my way to vacation in Maine. What attracted my attention was the same thing that everyone else in the world notices about Hendrick's. The squat, very dark brown that it's almost black, apothecary style bottle. That and then I noticed the price. It was on sale ridiculously cheap because it had just made it onto the shelves and was being first introduced. I had heard of it just recently and been wanting to try it and at half the normal price this was a steal. So I bought a bottle and figured that if it was good I could pick up a few more on sale when I headed back to NY, something which I later did.

The aroma is quite big, with a strong hit of juniper, followed closely by its star ingredients out of its various botanicals; cucumber and rose. The sharp, piney scent grabs you first but is quickly mellowed by the sweet, vegetal cucumber bottom notes and floral rose top notes. Then as it warms and opens up you get faint layers of spices coming in to play.

The taste is a medium juniper, again mellowed by the cucumber, and perked up with the rose petals. It is a soft and smooth gin, coating your mouth and tongue in soft, aromatic warmth, feeling sort of like a mouthful of warm, freshly made English custard. The mouth feel is very comforting and that softness of warm custard just jumps into my head. After the first hit of flavors you then get hints of citrus and herbs, and a very mild note of spearmint and rich chocolate and coffee. It has a long finish with semi-sweet layers of flavors following each other through your palate. The end is dry and aromatic and stays with you for several minutes.

Over the years I have had Hendrick's many times because it was one of the more easily available premium gins to locate, and helped start the trend of the new styles of gin. The first year or so they had some inconsistency with the product. Three bottles in a row would be excellent, then the fourth would taste like chemicals and benzene. Those issues were cleared up and they seem to be producing a consistently good product. This is a fine sipping gin, and if used in a martini you should make it very dry.

Poland Spring London Dry Gin is 40% abv. / 80 proof and is prepared and bottled in Maine, just like the water. I saw a big 1.75 liter bottle of this on a store shelf and came to an abrupt halt. Poland Spring Gin? I just had to grab a bottle and try it out. But somehow the unopened bottle got lost over time, in the back of a bottom shelf of my spirits library (I have several six foot high bookshelves loaded with hundreds of bottles of various spirits and liqueurs, next to the even more books in my library/office.) So today I was going through my bottles that are waiting to be reviewed and saw the jug sitting there in hiding. I pulled it out and started to do some research.

I read in an article that Poland Spring water was first bottled back over 150 years ago and was something of a trend setter. Selling bottled water was almost unheard of, and there were very few companies doing so. After Prohibition ended, Lawrence & Co. of Boston made Poland Spring Gin, Sloe Gin, and Whiskey using Poland Spring water and bottled them in decorative bottles called Moses bottles.

Nowadays I don't know if Poland Spring Gin actually uses Poland Spring water or not. There was absolutely no information of any kind on the label. As a matter of fact, in general I could find very little current information, except that it seems that it may be possibly made at the White Rock Distilleries in Lewiston, Maine. Also the word is that many folks out there consider it a step above rubbing alcohol and claim it gives killer hangovers. I have only seen it sold in 1.75 liter jugs, which is a strong indicator that it's a pretty low level gin.