New Amsterdam Stratusphere Gin The Original

Our preferred casual drinking gin. Not amazing, but great for its $$.

Great value and classic gin. Smooth and pleasant. Great for gin and tonics.

This has a really interesting - and deeply terrifying - sprite nose, though a tad more floral and less industrial. The palate is almost nicely delicate, but there is this immediate industrial flavor to it. It isn't this big bitter industrial flavor so much as some alcohol with a dash of motor oil. There are lots of light floral notes in here as well. I appreciate those. It's peppery without being unbearably harsh. It's sweeter than Starr Blu and also less harsh. For those reasons, I think I like this better. I'd take Dover over this since it actually has a juniper flavor to it, but this isn't bad. Actually, it is bad, but it's a bit of an improvement on Starr Blu. As with Starr Blu, this is improved by mixing with Dover, mellowing out the flavors of both while also making it a bit more complex. The result is a dry gin on the sweeter side like a less complex Ford's or Pacific Voyager with some Nolet's mixed in. If those flavor profiles are your thing, it's an improvement, though still not great. I won't be eating based on that though. This is somewhere between Starr Blu Gin and Dover Gin in quality. It's not good, but it's a substantial improvement over Starr Blu... And not even as good as Dover. I'm not entirely sure I'd identify this as gin if handed an unmarked sample. I'm not sure what I would think it is, but the super floral flavor could definitely throw me off. This is quite different from Dover, but it's closer in quality to that than it is to Starr Blu. I can't really compare this with anything that anyone is likely to have tasted though because it just isn't very good and most gins (fortunately) that anyone is likely to have tasted are reasonably solid (think Tanqueray or Beefeater).