Our gin explorations continued… with gins from a jaunt around a few countries with:

• From Spain… the Mediterranean Gin Mare
• From the west coast of Canada,  the classic dry Queensborough
• From south of the border in Illinois, USA a blind sample from FEW
• And finally… a step back into familiar territory with the very British Tanqueray Ten

We sampled them on a lazy Sunday sundowner in South Bombay, anchored by a collection of a travelling friend, augmented by a few more offerings!

Here are our tasting impressions…

Gin Mare 42.7%

• Very dry, olives, has the biggest nose of all sampled so far, yet less rosemary than expected, a bit of cardamon and mint, juniper there but supporting, basil, thyme
• Green pepper, spice, olive, quite warm

One of our tasting companions has spent time with the Gin Mare team and shared how they distill 12 different gins – one for each element – then blend together. A painstaking and meticulous process. It is a bit different, not for everyone.

A  few remarked on a shift – previously finding it both more olive and rosemary forward yet now sweeter. For more info, check out their website Gin Mare.

Queensborough Small Batch Dry Gin 43% (BC, Canada)

• Very classic, spruce tree, lots of juniper, nice clean citrus, lightly floral
• Nice light spices, juniper and pine forest, direct, clean, lightly floral
• Nice clean citrus after taste

This was my offering to the evening and one brought in by a friend who picked it up after researching the “best classic dry gin” from BC. It is produced by Central City Brewers + Distillers. It uses Juniper from the BC interior and Spruce Tips sourced from Vancouver Island.  (Central City)

Above all it can best be described as “classic and clean” with a nice fresh forest feel. No crazy experiments here just a solid dry gin.

Mystery gin 

• Initially was surgical spirit, floral perfume, fruits like peaches or apricot?
• Very anise or fennel on the palate, then finishes with a salty pear
• Not something very appealing initially then adjusted and began to enjoy

One of tasting companions brought this carefully concealed gin to the party… just to see what we thought. To be honest it wasn’t for everyone but it grew on us too.

And what was it? While I can’t confirm the full details it was a barrel gin from FEW Spirits from Illinois, USA.

Tanqueray Ten 47.3%

• Lower on the botanicals, spice dry
• Citrus, sweet
• An easy one to enjoy in a G&T… which is exactly why it was picked!

Which is exactly when our attentions shifted from comparing different gin profiles to pairing with different tonics. Which will be a topic for another day…

Other gin experiences:

• Caorunn’s Gin revisited
• Dillon’s Unfiltered Gin 22 40% (Batch 18)
• Ki No Bi Kyoto Dry Gin 45.7% (Kyoto, Japan)
• Monkey 47 Schwarzwald Dry Gin 47%
• Rock Rose 41.5% (2017) Batch 62, Bottle 452
• Siegfried Rheinland Dry Gin 41%
• Silent Pool 43%
• Tarquin Gin 42%
• The Botanist Gin 46%
• Whobertus Dry Gin 43%
• Transforming common gin to uncommon delight

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