Giniversity London Dry

Nose: Bright crisp juniper and fresh coriander. Some minor supporting aromas to flesh out the nose, mainly sweet citrus and mint. A classic, textbook, style of gin nose. Palate: Citrus on the arrival, fresh and sweet, with a little supporting liquorice. A less juniper-influenced palate than the nose would lead you to expect, but not lacking. The texture is good with orris root apparent and the overall palate has a sweet character (but certainly not to “Old Tom” levels of sweetness) with a balancing mild pepper note. Finish: Short. Citrus with an herbal/spice background. No metallic or hot notes. It's approachable and refreshing, and very much conforms to the benchmark profile for a classic gin. There is absolutely nothing unexpected here, so neither is there anything to particularly excite your interest nor to stand out as unpleasant or obtrusive. You can certainly buy it with complete confidence that it will work in any context. This gin gave me the impression that the distillers did a lot of research and experimentation specifically with the intention of creating the very best middle-path, inoffensive, universally appealing gin they could, and they succeeded admirably. It is agreeable neat and works well in a G&T. I did not try it in a martini but I can’t imagine it would be less than successful. However, at the price it is barely reasonable value because although only AUD$56 it is a 500ml bottle, so in real terms instead of competing against Tanqueray, Bombay Sapphire and Hendricks this is actually competing against Cotswolds, Herno, and Aviation and in that company it is far outclassed. Tasted from a 30 ml sample. “Average” : 78/100 (2.75 stars)