Tastes

Delicious nose full of juniper, berries, fruitiness, herbal freshness, spices. Smooth in the mouth, warm and tingly afterwards, flavors more junipery at first, then spicier before settling on a slightly herbal, velvety berry aftertaste. Tonic quells the fruitiness and berries and makes it more herbal, spicy and earthy and a little too bitter. Definitely better enjoyed neat or with a very light tonic at a low ratio.

The focus of this gin by Craft Link Distillery lies on elderflower and honey, and that's indeed the main character with the honey more so in aroma than in sweetness. Neat it's very well balanced with hints of juniper and spice as well, tonic's tartness however tends to cut through and put a dampener on the experience.

Ugly Gin by Pienaar & Son is soft, fruity, sweet and citrusy with only a hint of juniper and spices neat, but tonic brings out a certain grapefruity bitterness that stands at odds with the otherwise fruity sweet profile. Might be better with a more careful tonic pairing.

Like Autograph Gin from the same distillery, this one is very delicately balanced with the same lightly junipery and citrusy base and hints of something savoury and mushroomy, but it's even more understated here and it's also lacking the orange kick of Autograph. It's not bad, very light and agreeable, but if you're interested in Autograph Distillery just buy their self-titled gin instead, it does more.

Rich fruity base from the grape spirit and lightly junipery and citrusy throughout, sharp and tingly neat with peppery hint as well as an odd but not offputting medicinal aftertaste, sweet richness returns with tonic alongside floral hints. Not super distinct for a contemporary gin, but does nothing wrong either.

Very interesting composition of South African botanicals I can't even hope to describe accurately. Relaxed junipery base with orangey sweet citrus but also a certain almost mushroomy savouriness on top. It doesn't sound it like it would work but it's so delicately balanced that it sort of does. I think I can identify rosemary and coriander in the aftertaste but that's probably just my European flavor horizon talking.

Nose has a slightly junipery, citrusy, florally fresh base with a distinct fruity sweetness on top, reminding me of Wrigley's Juicy Fruit gum. Neat flavors less pronounced, perhaps a little spicier, becomes pleasingly lightly and freshly citrusy with tonic however.

Gin from the Brittany region of France hopes to evoke maritime feelings, does feature a junipery but also vegetally maritime profile with an almost savoury herbal note. As a matter of fact the distillers recommend you garnish an H2B and tonic with cherry tomatoes and rocket leaves. You can sense the intention but at least for me the flavors don't quite come together all the way, maybe for you if you like maritime and savoury gins.

Fruity but also spicy warm nose leading me to believe it's made with a grape spirit since it's from a small wine region in central Germany, sip is also fruity and spicy with a little pepper, anise-like freshness and a cardamom aftertaste. Tonic supresses the fruitiness and brings forward a strongly spicy, slightly herbal, but very well composed profile. The most louche (cloudiness) I've seen in a gin and tonic to this point, famously cloudy Cotswolds doesn't even come close!

Hailing from Weimar and incorporating Bauhaus cues in both name and styling. Nose is very junipery and citrusy, neat it's peppery at first and then sees the juniper and citrus dominate before ending on a peppery and slightly floral (lavender?) aftertaste. Less citrusy and a little more earthy spice with tonic. Pretty interesting overall.