Tastes

Rating: 16/23 The nose has pine and lemon, a bit like dish soap, but clean and refreshing. The palate is light yet rich with a nice clean pine flavor that is richer and oiler than expected with the citrus pushed back a bit, separating it from the dish soap character of the nose. This is a very enjoyable gin. I get some essence of stone, peppery prickling, and some occasional allusions to deeper complexity, but mostly this is just a very well executed clean gin that is enough more interesting than Oregon Spirit's vodka to be notably better. I'm thinking 15 to 17. It's really quite good.

Rating: 16/23 Floral, fruity nose. Tons of green apple. Not super complex, but sweet and enticing. The palate is quite sweet, but light and fairly smooth. There is some white pepper prickling with some herbal flavor is as well. It's very floral with some really nice green apple and pear to it as well. The complexity is decent and its a tasty fruity/floral gin. It won't win anyone over who doesn't already like that class of gin, but it will satisfy those who do. As always, Nolet's is the obvious comparison for this type of gin. They're both good choices. Nolet's has a richer nose with more pine to it. Honestly, I barely get the pine on this, so while I'd probably guess it was a gin, I might think it was some type of other liqueur instead. Nolet's is more viscous and floral with a richer, warmer presence. The floral and pine flavors of Nolet's go together really well, though you do have to like the taste of roses to appreciate the combination. Nolet's is certainly a lot less fruity, but it's better rounded. I wouldn't say that Nolet's is tremendously better since it's still very in your face and you really need to like that floral flavor, but it is a good point or two higher. This is a good 15 to 16. It's tasty, but I would say that I now slightly prefer the more standard but well-executed style of Oregon Spirit Dry Gin.

Rating: 17/23 In direct comparison with Green House, I have to say that this is better. It may be a bit too up in your face, but it has a really elegant floral flavor mixed with some nice rich juniper. The sweetness is nice, though a bit aggressive and out of balance with the sweetness, floral flavor, and more traditional gin profile in conflict. I'd love to try an aged version of this with the flavors mellowed out and more balanced. At the end of the day though, Green House is good and this is better. I'd take this unless I wanted that Green House green apple flavor, pretty much. The point difference is something in the 1 to 2 range, so I'm going with a 17 for this right now.

Rating: 15/23 This has a really nice palate there's some richness with pine bitterness, peppery spice, a fair amount of floral sweetness, and a little bit of citrus. It's quite balanced without any substantial flaws and it's quite clean. The complexity is very subtle and there's a bit of an alcohol flavor and it is a bit too much burn. I would absolutely pick this as a good cheap gin to mix or even sometimes sip. It has less of an alcohol presence than Dover Strait. It's more floral, balanced, and complex. Dover Strait is richer with more of the standard pine flavor to it. Dover is a safer bet for any cocktail that will hide the gin flavor, but this is better for a cocktail like a Manhattan that highlights the flavor of the gin itself. Dover just tastes a little off in comparison. This has less citrus and is less aggressive than Beefeater, but it has a similar floral sweetness to it, so I'd say that the two are of comparable quality. Given the price difference, I'd probabaly stock my well with this. 14 to 15.