Tanqueray No. TEN Gin

Lot's of new bourbon to try but first let's get one more of these "clears" out of the way. No Ten or #10 Tanqueray is their standard "line upgrade" and that means paying more, so what more do you get? For starters the No. Ten is classic in botanical gin nose and flavor, smooth, fragrant and appealing, it's also balanced, no the anise does not clobber the chamomile and coriander and the white grapefruit is a really nice dry note that builds on the spectrum. The fact Tanqueray manages a balanced blend of botanical notes already tells me they "figured it out", and I can safely add this to my "standard gins" list. For starting gin drinkers maybe more dryness than you would expect, however like Tanqueray's Rangpur Lime offering, they seem to have respected the notion that "dry" gin is a thing and isn't going away any time soon. The smoothness factor in the nose remains throughout the sip and the dry notes such as grapefruit don't get in the way, only a very mild hint of a burn on the finish and yes we are getting the 94.6 proof stuff here. If there is a downside, it's after you drink No. Ten you will never want to settle for standard Tanqueray again. No Ten Tanqy is just a really safe choice to have in your bar, and for those who need a "dry gin" you are still safe, I would say for everyone except those who are everyday gin drinkers on a budget, this one's for you.

Drunk neat, must try this out with tonic

Rating: 15/23 The nose has lemon, floral, orange, pine, and a bit of a kick. The palate has some nice clean lemon-floral sweetness. There's some big pepperiness here too. There's some underlying dry pine with the pepper that is nice and supports the clean profile. Clean corriander with that floral flavor. Not a ton going on here, but a nice clean gin. I prefer the profile of Ford's a bit since it's richer, more complex, and smoother. This is elegant and certainly sippable. It's not amazing. I am getting a bit more herbal and slightly earthy notes now. I'm going down to a 15 on this.

Rating: 16/23 This is interesting and fairly tasty. It has the usual floral fruitiness and juniper with quite a bit of spiciness, meeting it taste like a gin somewhere between Tanqueray and Nolet's. It's less aggressively bold than Tanqueray, possibly making it inferior for mixing, but it comes across as a bit more refined. Nolet's is sweeter with far more of a sickly fruity flavor (though this still has some). Overall, this is fairly tasty and balanced with not an excessive amount of and these, but also with less boldness and richness than I'd really like (at least for a mixer). In more recent comparison with regular Tanqueray, this has less rich fruitiness to its character, but a smoother cleaner flavor. The palate does have a fair amount of alcohol and a spicy kick with a strong juniper presence and citrus. There's a dash of sweetness but not a tremendous amount. It's actually quite harsh and spicy with a lot of bitterness. There's a fair amount of herbal flavor too. Huh, this time I'm not impressed. Latest tasting brings out more of the fruity sweetness and has less harshness. I probabaly shouldn't have had it right after sweet vermouth, so I don't think that last tasting is very accurate. The flavor is more crisp and fruity than that of Ford's, but it's also less rich and rounded. I like the more savory notes of Ford's, but it lacks the juiciness of orange and light grapefruit that this has. The herbal flavors come out more this time and the harshness is subdued significantly. I'm not actually sure if this or Ford's is harsher, so I'll need to compare again another time. I'm now leaning 15ish on this, but could go higher. It's a great gin, though I've definitely gone front thinking it was far better than Ford's to putting them on the same level (that's more of a credit to Ford's though). The palate is appropriately sweet and surprsingly floral following regular Tanqueray. It has a clean flavor with some nice citrus but also the usual pine and peppery prickling. It's smooth and elegant with a nice balance of flavors. Regular Tanqueray is more herbal and earthy. I'm inclined to say that this is a tad better, but it's tough to really make a call here since they're so different. There are still good amounts of herbal flavors and spice here though, as well as plenty of juniper. It's more elegant than Nolet's, but less rich and interesting. Compared with Beefeater, it has more presence to its body, but the citrus, pepper, and juniper stick out less. It actually tastes more like a refined juniper than like a refined Tanqueray. Or maybe it tastes a bit like a hybrid of Beefeater with a little bit of Tanqueray influence and some mellowing? Regardless, I like it a lot better than Beefeater and a bit better than regular Tanqueray as well. This is some fine gin - I'm thinking a 16, but it could be higher. Possibly as low as a 15, but it's hard to imagine it going below that. Nolet's is a lot edgier, with more of an opinion about gins being floral and sweet. It's also brasher though. Nolet's is richer but also has less balance and complexity. I can see these two going tow-to-toe with no clear winner. Comparing with Ford's, which I initially thought was inferior and then decided was better, this is more floral, but perhaps less complex. Ford's actually strikes me stylistically as sitting somewhere between Tanqueray and Tanqueray No Ten. I'm having trouble deciding which of the two is better right now.