Barr Hill Reserve Tom Cat Gin

Incredible. This is sipping whiskey in gin form. Floral, smooth and a hint of spice. Give it a try and you won’t regret it.

Batch 17, 2017. Tasted neat. Floral and pine nose, juniper and honey, and wiff of the soft beeswax the cork and bottle neck was dipped in to seal. Full bodied and rich, sweet honey surrounds the juniper, and oak rounds and softens it. Some ethanol in that mouthful. Dry oak, sweet beeswax, and some dry baking spice lingers in a long round finish. Unusual gin, unusual Old Tom Gin, but familiar barrel aged flavors lightly coated in honey. I am a fan of barrel aged gins, so consider that if you're not. The honey sweetness sets this apart--too sweet? maybe, but what an experiment. This is a beautiful sipping gin (which I do rarely), delicious neat. Ice thins it out, but moderates the sweet and lets more juniper and oak through. I'll have to experiment mixing cocktails given how bold this is, but imagine an Old Tom Collins or Bees Knees (too sweet?, reduce honey) would be elegant and let the gin's character shine. More later. Just made a White Negroni with equal parts this, Luxardo Bitter, and Maurin dry vermouth over one iceberg. Soft, round, I'd probably up the white bitter proportion next time, but... elegant, easy to drink, a great Negroni intro for the bitter-timid. Reconsidering this again tonight, 4/23/21. This is a gin to saveur neat or with an ice cube, no need to mix. Upping this from 4.75 to a 5 for it's uniqueness.

Awesome barrel-aged flavor. Great for Bees Knees. Slow sipper.