Crafthouse Cocktails Southside

Crafthouse Cocktails continues to impress me with how freshly made their cocktails feel. This outing feels like the kind of gin cocktail I'd get at a mid level restaurant and at 15.4% ABV they aren't skimping on the actual cocktail experience. The focus here isn't on the gin which acts more as a nice canvas with a kick so that the mint and citrus flavors can take over. It smells of freshly muddled mint leaves in a nice lime-lemon mix. You wouldn't be able to tell how boozy this actually is just based on the taste where the lime-lemon concentrates dominate the palate while the mint helps add some complexity and nuance. It's like a nice little citrusy burst with the freshness only mint can provide to a cocktail. I do wish the gin had a bit more of an impact on the palate as you can only really sense it in the finish if you look for it. What really brings this one down a few notches when compared to their excellent Gold Rush offering is that you can taste a bit of the lack of freshness. I did feel a bit of the concentrate of the lemon and lime concoction telling me it wasn't fresh squeezed and if I got this at a restaurant I'd assume they weren't using fresh ingredients. However, that shouldn't detract from the fact this is quite an excellent RTD. Most other RTDs on the market feel much, much faker and in comparison to them, this is still a very fresh tasting concoction. I'll be looking forward to trying out the next Crafthouse Cocktail flavor!