Tastes

The nose is pretty bland but a tad savory with perhaps a tad of sulfur and smoke. The palate has a fair amount of sulfur too, but at least it's smooth with a harshness that goes well with the slow-burn spiciness. There are earthy notes and hints of floral fruity notes, as well as some sweetness and pine. It's fairly muddled and the flavors aren't that great. It's dull and ill-executed. What a disappointment. This reminds me of Prarie Organic Gin. There's a variety of flavors, but they're difficult to pick out from the sulfur. This is definitely not as good as Beefeater or Tanqueray. Prarie is more minty and crisp with a pronounced spiciness and distinct flavors. This is comparable in quality, but it's more muddled. I'm sure not enjoying this. It's hard to say whether this or Prarie is better, is I'll give them the same rating.

Whoa! There's a really sweet floral fruity nose. I can smell this from across the room! There are some really nice apples and green apples, as well as pears, hints of anise, and maybe a tad of watermelon and passion fruit. The nose has a nice balance of sweet and tart. The palate is clean with a nice spring water flavor mixed with some dry spiciness that adds a consistent heat to the big floral fruitiness that mirrors the nose but drier. It's still a tad sweet, but not so much. It most notably has suggestions of sour watermelon candy. It's actually really tasty and well-executed. This is likely to be a very divisive gin, but the balance is really quite good and it's tasty with decent complexity. It compares well with Esmé Gin. I really like this. Esmé is more floral whereas this is more fruity. It's a tough call between the two of these. This is a bit harsher, but in a way that works. They're both quite fun and while I'm leaning toward the Esmé, they are of similar quality. They're both in the same class as Nolet's. Nolet's is more interesting and edgy, but also quite on the nose (so perhaps less balanced). I'm leaning toward Nolet's, but all three are in the same ballpark. Nolet's has a hint of bubblegum that could drag it down though.

The nose has some nice fresh pine and light fresh bitterness. It's a refreshing scent but also concerningly light. The palate is bitter, dry, clean, and light with a strong juniper presence. Honestly, this is exactly what I expected from Oregon Spirirt after trying their vodka, which is very neutral but also not very interesting. So they took that and added juniper. Yep, it's the quintessential neutral gin. The flavors are clean and well executed, but not very interesting. There is a hint of oily savoriness they is exactly like pine nuts, which is actually really interesting and unique. It's not super complex, but the flavors it has are clean and well-executed so it's easy to drink and would likely mix fairly well despite its lack of complexity. It's enjoyable for sip though. On a hot summer day, this would be a good choice. I really especially like the pine nuts flavor and how the alcohol doesn't really stand out. I can just sit, sip, and enjoy that for a while.

There's a hair of floral make, but it's otherwise shockingly light. The palate is super floral with some bitter pine balancing it out. It's light and not at all traditional, but it actually really works. Wow, it's sure fun to take a break and taste the roses here. This would be very risky to use for mixing given its flavor profile, but it's quite enjoyable to sip. I'm actually not sure what it would be good to mix in unfortunately, but that doesn't make it less good of a gin. It's smooth, though it can't hide its harshness behind alleged spices since there's no spice flavor. But it does have the pine and that's a bit spicy, so it really does help here. If say that this is a tad better than the Esmé vodka. Quite nice! OK, there actually is a little prickly spice here too. There's a nice clean spring water flavor hiding under the floral flavors, sweetness, and pine.

It has a kind of floral bit still piney smell with some other herbs and a bit of spice - quite like potpourri. There's some alcohol on the nose, but not too much. It's also a tad fruity. It's a fascinating and quite pleasant nose. The palate, sadly comes straight out with water and bitterness. I do get the potpourri flavors and they are quite good, but there's this bitter flavor like charred oak with some sulfur really getting in the way. As much as I enjoy that potpourri personality on the nose (and also the palate to the extent that I can taste it), the flaws are overwhelming. It's fairly harsh too as it nears the end. The burn isn't the most excessive, but it doesn't have a nice pepper flavor going with it. It does at least taste roughly like gin though.

The nose is fairly bland. Alcohol, something a hair savory, some juniper. The palate is decent enough, starting off viscous with some sweet richness, then bringing out some spicy juniper and drying out. It's boring, but serviceable. Unlike Starr Blu, this definitely at least tastes like gin, though it has a bit too much of an alcohol flavor and not enough complexity. It's passable enough and certainly works for mixing. I'm bumping its score up. I might be eating it a tad high at 11, but it's surprisingly OK aside from the alcohol and lightness.