Castle & Key Rise Gin (Spring 2021)

I've had this on my tasting shelf for quite some time, as I had to make room on my gin shelf before I could put any new bottles on there. I remember purchasing this from the distillery, and waiting in line to taste it on a very busy day, so much so that the line was outside of the indoor bar, and I was sweating from every orifice. This was also the first place that I discovered and fell in love with the idea of making your own tonic water from a tonic concentrate. I can't remember if they were selling bottles of their homemade concentrate, but I definitely missed the opportunity if they were. I was very impressed with the amount of gins that I could taste and purchase bottles of, as most American distilleries usually only have 1-2 variants at most. After tasting all available gins in a flight, I settled on this one, but I don't particularly remember it wowing me at the time. Still, the prices and proofs were very admirable for all products, including most of the whiskeys, which was very unexpected given the aire and character of the distillery grounds and the packaging, which seem very bold and uninhibited. The nose here has lots of faces, but is all balanced well, although defaults to one of the most floral-heavy gins I've ever smelled. The rye base (love a good rye-based gin) gives that grassy, slightly minty flavor, while other notes of coriander, rose, melon, lemon oil, and a noticeable hit of the earl gray tea combine very well. The proof isn't noticeable at first, other than this having a lack of watery-ness, but after smelling the glass a few more times, the ethanol starts to build and even burn the nostrils just a bit. The immediate flavor seems to be milky, somewhat fruity cereal, but I kind of remember this from tasting the other gins at the distillery, so I'm inclined to believe this is just what the base distillate tastes like. In addition to this, though, there are sweet, sugary notes of black tea and some fresh flowers (very close to a London Fog flavor with the base milk note), as well as a dryness that allows me to taste coriander and some of the spicy, earthy rye. Were it not for the strange opening flavor, you would easily get knocked back by the surprisingly strong kick of ethanol, as this hits hard in the gums, and doesn't back down all the way through to the finish. On paper this gin is very unique in how it's made and what it's made with, so it's not all that shocking to find that it also tastes quite unique. The overall milky flavor is a first for me, and would be more welcome were it not for a tough, almost spicy body that the higher proof gives off. Even though it was my favorite offering at the present moment when I was last at the distillery, it still is not something I'd reach for neat or on the rocks, or really even in simpler drinks like a G&T or gimlet. I would absolutely wager to think this would make a kickass gin fizz though, or any other gin-based experimental complexity. If this were more expensive, I'd say it's not worth it given it's limited enjoyment, but the price is just right for you to pick up at least one of the gin offerings from Castle & Key, after trying them to see which of the very different options is best for you.

Not much of a gin guy, but this made a good cocktail at the distillery so I picked up a bottle. Definitely floral. Sweetness on back end