Driftless Glen WisconGin

Very very smooth 👌

I will admit that, gin lover that I am, this one took me a bit to really wrap my head around. Made about 90 minutes to my northeast in Baraboo (by the Wisconsin Dells), it highlights Wisconsin-grown botanicals. Did you know that 90% of the ginseng grown in the US is grown in Wisconsin? Neither did I, and it also took me a long time to figure out that it was the ginseng I kept tasting, but couldn’t place. It’s earthy, with a little bit of a licorice quality to it. And, it hides on the nose - I mostly get the spearmint and a distant hint of juniper. The palate is a dance between the sweet freshness of the mint, the earthy-anise notes from the ginseng, a subtle spiciness, and a very faint juniper note. Smooth, fairly light bodied...and quite unique in terms of flavor profile. I struggled a bit with what to do with this in terms of cocktails, but I finally hit the jackpot - a 2-1 ratio of this with Cocchi vermouth and 4-5 dashes of Peychaud's on the rocks does the trick nicely.