Roku Gin

I wanted to love this gin. It’s story and botanicals drew me in, and for a while I thought it was delicious. Near the end of the bottle, however, I started detecting a kind of fake, sweet note in the texture: plastic-y, like Splenda. This put me off the drink, and I’d prefer Drumshanbo (which has similar tea notes) any day.

A really tasty gin. Not necessarily a “clean” taste, but it is rich and oily. It is sweet off the bat and has some light citrusy-ness. This is followed by a buttery taste and oily texture. The finish is verrrry peppery. It is very complex. I am going to try and pair it for some cocktails. Overall very complex. A lot of things going on and the flavor morphs throughout. Price point is great!

Rating: 16/23 I agonized over the particular flavors in this last time and was pretty proud of how many I identified. I feel like I've been working hard at tastings right now though and I just want to taste something solid. I'll rate it and even take notes if I have to, but give me a break, please. N: Citrusy (lemon) and floral with a little bit of a bitterness that's kind of herbaceous with a dry, lightly woody flavor. I get a faint punch from the alcohol, but it blends nicely with the citrus. There are some kind of funky edges to the notes I detect here (e.g. I'm probably smelling yuzu, not lemon), but nothing too extreme. P: This is light with a lemony tartness backed by a pith and lemon oil numbingness, but there's also some floral sweetness and something faintly rich and ever so slightly savory (without tasting meaty like poorly produced alcohol). I get a faint prickliness that's kind of appealing and avoids coming across as harsh and reveals a bit of the alcohol. It's probably for the best that they stuck with a low proof for this one. There are some flavors in the herbal realm that have faint notes of dirt bordering on wood. That must be the tea coming through. I know vaguely what flavorings are in here now, so I'm not trying as hard to identify each of them. The complexity is solid here without being muddled, which is a great success. There's a lot of lemon, but I like it and don't find it to be overwhelming. The palate stays super far away from vegetal notes. While I appreciate that it doesn't get into dangerous territory there, it seems like it stays too safe, so some of the richness, fullness, and complexity that it could have are absent. F: Some bitter prickliness from the lemon oil remains along with some faintly floral herbal notes and a mellow green tea backing. - Conclusion - This is a very well executed, clean gin. It could use some more boldness and complexity somewhere, but it really nails the flavors that it tries to deliver and I can enjoy it for either mixing or sipping. It's unique, but not so out there that it's challenging. Suntory really nailed it on this one, particularly with a price point below $30. I'm looking at a 16 to 17 here. I was about to give it a 17, but then I switched back to Ford's (which I just gave a 15) briefly and found that I didn't observe a big gap in quality between them. Considering that, I'm going with a 16.

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