Whiskey Thief Distilling Co. Gin Quintessence

Although I knew nothing of the Whiskey Thief brand or distillery before arriving there for a tour a few weeks ago, it started with a shock when I saw a few dozen people already there at 10:30 in the morning. As such, the tour was cramped, and although the freshly thiefed whiskey during the tour and for filling your own bottle was a nice gimmick, the end product was still too overpriced for what it was. Had I not have visited the bar there to check their food and cocktail menu, I would have never known they even had a gin, let alone several variants, because it was never mentioned or advertised elsewhere. Having said all that, the food truck made the best steak sandwich I've ever had, and although I didn't quite like the spring variant of the gin, I thought this worked well as a nice workhorse, and was impressed at it being 100 proof. For $50 at that proof point, I think the value is decent, but I'm wondering it if holds up several weeks later. Although there is no color here, there are some particles seen floating in the bottle that resemble barrel char, but is likely botanicals that missed the filtering process. The nose is simple, clean, and bitter, and gives a more dried juniper flavor than fresh berries. I expected to get more citrus here, but there's no particular notes of orange or lemon, and only a very slight overall scent of dried citrus peel at all. Even further away are notes of some coriander and a general florality, but it's all very overshadowed by basic and functional juniper, which isn't unfortunate in this case. There's an initial flavor of sweet cereal milk, with the body being quite light at first. Strangely, the juniper tastes much more balanced than it was on the nose, and there also isn't a hot ethanol like one would expect at this proof point. All the botanicals are tasted very slightly, expect for the citrus, which desperately needs to speak up in order to complete the balance here. After a while, there is a gum burn that isn't typically present in lower proof gins, but the finish doesn't develop any further flavor notes, leaving a dry, bitter, and decently floral overall profile. There really isn't anything here to be impressed by, and even less of a drive to go out and buy this for yourself, but in some ways, this is desirable if you just want a gin that has no gimmicks or weird additives, yet still meets me the mark of a modern, American gin with a rare mid proof point. It's not worth sipping neat, and probably will fade or not develop too much on ice, but it will mix very well, whether with juice or tonic, while providing basic gin flavors and expectations, yet not disappearing into the cocktail due to the proof. Worth the cost? Not quite, but just barely. Once this distillery catches up with pricing for the economical, average spirit drinker (as opposed to the trust fund/family money/chief blanks in shorts, backward sunglasses, open toed shoes, and tucked in polos that were mostly present while I was on-site), I will be happy to return to their gins as well as the unique cask-strength whiskeys.