Tastes

Interesting product that pretty precisely delivers what the name says. Pine on the nose, pine in the flavor, pretty dry and hot neat, even with tonic still very woody and dry, hints of oiliness like tree sap appear inbetween. Though that's really all it does, I'm missing some multi layeredness, and between this and the Alpgin Hay I strongly suggest buying the latter if you have the opportunity. Edit: Downgraded from 3.5 to 3.0 following another sampling and a direct comparison with Zirbin.

Surprisingly rich and well balanced. With unusual feature botanicals from small distilleries there's always a chance you'll end up with something gimmicky, and with the Alpgin Hay a hint of hay is really mostly all you're getting in the nose, but in the flavors it's quite smooth and really opens up into a bouquet of Alpine wildflowers and a certain summery sweetness accompanied by the dry baseline of hay. Tonic doesn't subdue the flavors too much either, really a well done and enjoyable affair overall.

Neat the initial impression is very anise-forward like ouzo, then it settles for a character most closely resembling a slightly spicy lime with a pronounced bittersweet presence. With tonic everything becomes a little more subdued but not significantly different besides the anise kick almost disappearing. If you're into lime in gins this might be one for you, but it's not a personal favorite of mine.

Very solid staple, one of my favorite London Drys so far. Considering the tiny number of botanicals the complexity is quite an achievement, juniper is obviously center but not overwhelmingly so, surrounded by a certain hint of herbals and spiciness. Reasonably smooth, will work with a great number of drinks.

Promises orange, passionfruit and pineapple, the latter two prominent in the nose, the flavors becomes more muddled and more of a general tropical fruit juice tone. Not too sweet, not too sticky.

Feature botanicals include apple blossom, rhubarb, lemon peel and violet. Overall fruity and sweet with hints of florals. Tonic shifts the apple-ish flavor towards something like unripe peaches and kiwis and introduces somewhat of a distracting sticky bittersweetness.

Advertised as blueberry-forward and also featuring cedar, myrrh and cardamom. While the former is front and center, the latter are far too subtle to make any difference. Flavor dilutes quite a bit with tonic, but smooth and easy overall.

Botanicals include cubeb pepper, lemon peel, cardamom, grains of paradise. Medium juniper, equal amounts of citrus, perhaps the slightest hint of spices, pretty agreeable overall. I wish it was spicier considering the botanicals, also the flavors kind of muddle when mixed with tonic. In terms of botanicals it reminds me a lot of Bombay Sapphire but it tastes much less weird.

Pretty light, juniper almost absent, definitely lemony but the thyme does weird things, flavor associations in the brain sit somewhere between herb-laced lemon drops and dish soap, slightly more tolerable with tonic.

Color change is a neat party trick but it's merely an alright gin beyond that. Extremely hot neat, very mild and agreeable with tonic, overall profile is a bit floral and sweet with hints of citrus and berries.