Beefeater London Dry Gin (40%)

It's been decades since I first tried Beefeater gin, but it's always been in a cocktail. That's what it was made for. So this time, neat but chilled. Clear and moderate-to-thin legs in the glass. Nose is strong and clear juniper and citrus (lemon, orange), then anise and corriander, and dry spices in the background. In the mouth, juniper, anise, corriander, and dry grassiness. There's a floral sweetness too, surrounding a bare hint of ethanol. It feels thin and tastes watery without a bigger ethanol bloom. A higher proof would benefit it, especially in a cocktail. The finish carries those same flavors, but adds a mint tingle. Short (very!), clean, unremarkable. I know I drank hundreds of G and Ts and Martinis made with Beefeater before Tanqueray and others showed up to replaced this classic. I also remember drinking some pretty awful well gins in dive-ish bars (as a bartender) and restaurants (as a waiter and cook) that made me appreciate Beefeater. It's hard now to judge it fairly with so many quality gins out there, but at $20 it's hard to ignore, if nothing else than for memory's sake... which ups it a quarter point in my rating.