St. George Botanivore Gin

First real gin I’ve gotten but this shit is tastyyyyy

Rating: 16/23 N: There's a big green juniper scent here. It's kind of earthy and slightly vegetal. It smells a little sweet, but not like Plymouth. It's faintly peppery too and a get a whiff of alcohol. There's a dash of oily lemon too. There's a bit of something that reminds me of Bols Genever. P: Not for the faint of heart. I get plenty of that green juniper berry from the nose. It's kind of sweet with some lemon that when combined with the mineral flavor occasionally borders on tasting like lemon heads (though on the dry side for that, if that makes sense?). It's definitely earthy and there are some vegetal elements tending toward herbal that lend additional complexity. There's certainly more going on here than in Plymouth. There's a rich bitter layer vaguely like mild black licorice beneath this that's fairly flat but provides a nice backing. It's a challenging, but complex and interesting, profile that grows on me. I'd love to try it in some mixed drinks and see how it fares. F: The green juniper berry, vegetal, and funky bitter sweet backing carry through. It's a decently full finish, but it has nothing on the palate. - Conclusion - This is a real stand-out gin. It's kind of like Roku in how it puts a twist on the standard formula (though their profiles are very different). Both seem like great choices to keep on the shelf, though a dash of genever mixed with juniper-heavy gin might be an adequate substitute for this in a pinch. The more robust and complex (albeit challenging) flavor here puts this ahead of Plymouth by a couple of points. I'd also put this ahead of Ford's a bit. I'm definitely not feeling a Monkey 47 level or quality coming out of this though. I think I'm going to land on a 16 here. I can imagine going up to a 17 though. Perhaps I should get a bottle. Thanks @PBMichiganWolverine for the sample!

Very nice. On the nose citrus is most prominent for me, with a soft floral note. The taste hits with that sharp citrus and then mellows out into a delightful, sweet, lemonade-like flavor, crisp and clean and delicious. Juniper is not the strongest flavor here but it's there, especially at the end. A slight spice also enters at the end and continues into the finish. I'm finding that this type of flavor profile --- light, floral, fruity, and crisp --- is my favorite style in gin. My favorite is Drumshanbo, and this isn't quite as good as that, but it's in the same flavor space and it's very tasty. I got this as part of the St. George gin sampler pack, and this is probably the one I liked the most, although it's close between this and the Terroir. However, I suspect that for me this one may fall victim to the "wingman effect": because I think Drumshanbo is similar but better, and Drumshanbo costs only slightly more, if I'm going to buy a bottle I'll probably get Drumshanbo over this. Thus ironically I may be more likely to get a bottle of the Terroir than the Botanivore, even though I probably like the latter a little more, just because Terroir is more distinct. Anyway, that's just me. A bottle of this is available for around $30 and it's certainly worth that. (My price here is pro-rated based on the bottle size I got.)

This is the second gin I'm trying from this distiller, the first being the rye variant. 19 seems like a great number for botanicals; it seems at first a little high, but it has room to insert some unique items, like the cilantro. I am also excited that there are so many of them that are steeped as opposed to added to the gin basket, so I look forward to a different blend to taste. There is mostly floral and herbaceous notes on the scent, but no one thing that overpowers another. It smells like it would taste fantastic with some citrus, but I don't actually get any on the nose. You can tell juniper is there, but it's definitely an afterthought behind the other botanicals. The initial taste is certainly floral, and almost sweet, but I can still tell it's a gin. The taste really just develops from the smell that you get from standing in a National Park garden, but I still just vaguely get a citrus note suggestion, and if it's anything, I'd call it lemon and lime peels that were dried out and then rolled in sugar. The finish feels light, but the flavors that have been tasted thus far still shine evenly until the palate is completely cleared. This is especially nice given the slightly higher 90 proof on a gin. This variant was very impressive. I did not purchase the green label, which in all research seems like it would be the brand's flagship gin, but even without trying that one, I would argue that this should be the one that any gin novice turns to if they want an awesome American gin spin that is still very approachable for most casual drinkers. With the rye version also having it's own impressive notes to it, I am looking forward to purchasing full size bottles from this distillery, minus the green label variant, since I couldn't care less about California "specialties."

more of a traditional gin compared to the rest of the st. george gin line