Guest Gin Tasting
A couple of weeks ago Nicola and I missed a gin twitter tasting due to other pre-arranged commitments, but as we had all the samples we took the opportunity of having two guest tasters to review these gins.
Our guest tasters are Jacqueline (A Whisky Boy wife) and Neil Buchan a close friend and also the Founder and Owner of Unorthodox Roasters a specialist coffee roasting company.
Let’s have their reviews.
First up is:-
Slingsby, London Dry Gin (42% Alc/vol)
Nose
(N) Old lady perfume, musty.
(J) Menthol, mild clinical candle.
Taste
(N) Orange zest, Seville oranges, a bit spicy.
(J) Triple-sec, blood orange zest, some citrus spice.
Finish
(N) Parma-violets, coriander seeds & Thai basil lingering flavour.
(J) Warming and citrus spice.
Slingsby key ingredients are hand-grown local plants, these are complemented with water drawn from the world famous Harrogate aquifer, pure single grain spirit and a few fine ingredients from around the world are all brought together and hand finished in North Yorkshire. To compliment this London Dry Gin a locally-sourced bespoke blue glass bottle, which was inspired by a 19th century local chemist and even the cork is handmade Portuguese cork.
This gin will cost you £38.95
Up next is:-
Langtons #1 The Lakeland Gin (40% Alc/vol)
Nose
(N) Mild Juniper
(J) Minty, cooling, fresh.
Taste
(N) Solid spice, white pepper, nutmeg, turnips.
(J) Vegetal chilli, sulfurous, cabbage, quite harsh.
Finish
(N) Creamy body but a little thin.
(J) Bitter finish, not a happy gin.
This Lake District gin boasts a blend of 11 botanical’s including ancient Lake District Oak Bark. This gin is made by two Lakeland locals, using as many local products as possible. The bespoke bottle takes its design from a piece of slate and is manufactured in the north of England.
The price of this bottle is £29.95
The third one is :-
Caorunn, Small Batch Scottish Gin (41.8% Alc/vol)
Nose
(N) Lighter, faint lemon and grapefruit.
(J) Floral and quite sophisticated, quite a complex aroma.
Taste
(N) Elegant and harmonious, sparkling, refreshing like chilled sake.
(J) Spicy pickled lemons, citrusy.
Finish
(N) Long, really long, gentle heat, juniper spice.
(J) I want another wee sip, an aftertaste of smooth cider vinegar.
Handcrafted in the Scottish Highlands infusing five locally foraged botanical’s and clear Scottish water. Artisan al and made in small batches at Balmenach Distillery. The fine packaging represents a sense of heritage and provenance influenced by Celtic knots and Scottish art nouveau. the five pointed star asterisk is based on the red Rowan berry.
This one is got a price of £27.95.
Number four is:-
Langley’s, Small Batch London Dry Gin (41% Alc/vol)
Nose
(N) Musty white pepper, Boots aftershave, chemically.
(J) Granny’s linen cupboard, slight mothball, good quality satchel leather.
Taste
(N) Simple gin, “big red” chewing gum.
(J) Cinnamon balls, candied sweet.
Finish
(N) A little hot with any complexity.
(J) Short finish, evaporates quickly.
The production of this gin is in a small copper pot still made in 1960 by John Dore & Co. Traditional methods and family values go into every bottle. A blend of secret botanical’s have been used to create this Old English style gin.
£29.95 is all you have to pay for this bottle.
The final gin is:-
Bulldog, London Dry Gin (40% Alc/vol)
Nose
(N) Lush, no harshness here, potager.
(J) Lavender bombs, cottage country garden aromas, bumble bees would love this one.
Taste
(N) Very creamy, almost malolactic, tequila like, a hay note.
(J) Fresh cut grass, elegant and complex.
Finish
(N) Rose petals, but the finish is not too long.
(J) Spiced Turkish delight, mellow and floral.
This award winning gin is made at GJ Greenall’s, an English distillery that has been making gin for the past 250 years. A blend of 12 botanical’s including Dragon Eye, Lotus Leaf and White poppy are used in every distillation. This Modern London Dry style gin is quadruple distilled. No one can disagree that the bottle is certainly unique and distinctive.
You only need £22.95 to buy this one.
Well our guest tasters went on to actually rate these gins in order of preference and added a couple of words to each.
Number one was Caorunn and their comments are :-
Elegance meets passion, Celtic strength, velvet finish.
Number two was Bulldog and their comments are:-
Really nice neat, strawberry chupa-chups.
Number three was Slingsby and their comments are:-
An easy going gentle giant, gin flavored vanilla ice cream float.
Number four was Langley’s and their comments are:-
A double cream of gin, rainbow sweets with vanilla ice cream
Bringing up the rear was Langtons #1 and their comments are:-
A vegetable smoothie, kohlrabi cooled down.
Well that is our guests reviews and comments, Nicola and I found that there were some interesting flavours and aromas were found and both Neil and Jacqueline thoroughly enjoyed there couple of hours tasting chatting and reviewing these five gins, look out for some more guest tasters coming soon.
Go to our shop where all of these gins are available now.
