Rating: 15/23 I've never tried aquavit before. I dig that this one ages on ships. It's not very expensive. It's pretty well known. Seems like a good place to start. N: Dry herbal on the grassy side with some spearmint and sweetness. I can pick out to caraway. I start getting a bit more of a rye bread note here and the mint becomes a bit sharper. Not a very complex nose, but an intriguing one. I'm pretty worried about the spearmint, but at least I didn't pick up a big alcohol bite. There's a faint meatiness at the end that concerns me too. P: Caraway, black licorice, spiciness (ginger, clove, some related stuff), some grass, something just sort of sweet, wafts of rubber/tar, and faint suggestions of spoiled meat. There's maybe a tad of tartness and really faint nuttiness, but I really need to reach to find anything that tastes like oloroso in here - and even the barrel flavor is hard to find. I have really mixed feelings about this. There's lots of life, which I rally like, but some of the elements here are a bit off. Oh, I'm starting to get the spearmint now. I can't tell if it constitutes the entirety of the tar flavor, or if it just ties in with it. F: Spearmint and caraway, then faint rubber and meat. Still a bit of sweetness going on. - Conclusion - This is an odd one. I'm having trouble figuring out what to think. I like the caraway and spices and licorice and so forth, but there are some problems. I think I like the category, but this execution could use some work. To compare with another not-gin, this is similar in quality to Bold Genever, but very different in style. Bols Genever is richer with fewer flaws, but it also is more muddled. To compare with gin, this is about on par with Ford's. Both of those were 15s, so I think that this is a 15 too.