My Monkey 47 from Schwarzenwald has finally arrived, an interesting gin bottle stoppered with a straight cork plug, the claim is that the 47 number represents the types of botanicals infused within, and this claim may not be an exaggeration. The nose on Monkey 47 literally lives up to the "bursting" adjective and promises to be a wild ride of red and dark berries and various garden herbs, but unfortunately, the KILLER of complex and varied culinary notes is also present, that being anise. Sadly like most botanical type offerings, anise is too heavily leaned on and will kill the mood for those of us not in love with the familiar licorice flavor. While the anise nose isn't enough to be too off putting, on the tongue the anise is the first and last of notes, too much too strong and too over bearing to make this a "treasure" of a flavorful gin and that literally kills the deal for me. I'd like to know what these distillers are thinking by adding such copious amounts of licorice flavoring but whatever the reason, this destroys the mood, the ambiance , the balance and the harmony in these liquors, and that's a real shame when it's clear there was a lot to offer here without the ridiculous stomping out of the blend by a single spice. For such a well revered gin I would hope for more but sadly cannot recommend this beyond the gin connoisseurs need of experiencing the full spectrum, for my money I can get just as much from a bottle of Hendricks for considerably less cash. Cheers!