Sonic8222
Empress 1908 Indigo Gin
Distilled Gin — British Columbia, Canada
Reviewed
January 29, 2021 (edited June 18, 2021)
Okay, so this is purple. I knew of this product for some time, but I had no interest in ever getting it. My wife, however, wanted to try it, and I bought it once I found it. The color and little changing gimmick is neat, but I can also see how it would be risky when it comes to marketing to "purists," since it's very vibrant and can easily be seen as off-putting. However, I'm going into this open-minded, as the color doesn't bother me, but London dry gin does, as it usually has no character or good botanical flavor.
On the brighter side of gin, as far as the scent goes. Mild to medium juniper, some lemon/lime/orange oil, and surprisingly, a good amount of ethanol for such a low proof. Oddly enough, it doesn't have almost any floral notes or quality, where I was led to believe it should excel in it.
It's definitely a London dry, no doubt about it. The dry spell hits the mouth and gums almost immediately, with the aforementioned juniper and citrus from the nose being very muted. It is here where the floral notes finally come in, but again, this type of gin simply does not allow for flavorful bodies to come through. The finish is quite bitter, and not much in a good way.
This, to me, equates to a craft, American gin that was made with the lights off; all the ingredients are probably here, but the ratios may be off, or perhaps a worker missed pouring certain botanicals into the gin basket. To be honest, I'm not really sure what style this is supposed to be, mostly because I'm still learning with gin, but also since this is a Canadian product, and I don't remember seeing their name on very many recognizable gins. It's not impressive, looks quite scary in a Glencarin, and really banks on the color trick. Not worth it for the price, unless you're trying to impress in some other field besides taste.
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@PBMichiganWolverine Ah - just looked at the Distiller listing synopsis - duh - should have done that before. Yes, it does 🙂
@cascode yeah...sounds like they used butterfly pea petals. It changes color from royal blue to purple-pink depending on pH. Adding a bit of acid , like lemon juice, will do the trick. Tonic water might be slightly acidic too I think
Does it go pink when mixed with tonic water in a G&T? If so then it's coloured with butterfly pea which has been used in southeast Asian cooking as a food colouring for centuries. There's been several of these purple gins now, I think Husk Distillers "Ink Gin" was the first. If you taste them in a black glencairn amongst other gins at a blind tasting there is no flavour coming from the colourant. If it does not turn pink with tonic water then it's just synthetic purple food colouring.