Aroma: Forceful and bold with juniper, coriander, aniseed, liquorice, lemon and pepper all defiantly present. It’s a strong, brightly-lit nose with a neon-like intensity that jumps right out of the glass. Flavour & Texture: Prominent juniper, aniseed, native pepper and finger-lime. The palate is well balanced but has considerable intensity of flavour. There is a savory, almost umami quality and a good amount of spicy heat coming from cinnamon, native citrus botanicals, aniseed and fennel seed. The texture is slightly creamy. Catching up on my review backlog with a few quick-hit reviews. Moonshiner is a micro-distillery in suburban Sydney which Mrs Cascode and I visited in March 2023. We shared a tasting flight of four gins which were served both neat and with some recommended garnishes and mixers. This gin was served with an optional cinnamon quill and Fever Tree Mediterranean tonic water. This was our favourite gin on the day. Its intensity made it immediately stand out from everything else we tasted but its profile was still close enough to a classic gin that we could imagine using it in a range of drinks. It’s so powerful in both aroma and flavour that it could just be a chaotic mess of elements, but the strength of the juniper component makes it work by providing a robust framework for everything else. We bought a bottle on the day and have almost finished it now. Mrs Cascode is a big fan but over time the gloss has worn off for me. At heart this is something of a side-show act – a really good one for sure, but the more I’ve tasted it in comparison to my favourite classic gins the more it seems to be overly-demonstrative. Still, it’s a great gin and arguably the best product currently being made by Moonshiner Distillery. “Good” : 84/100 (3.75 stars)