Watershed Bourbon Barrel Gin

Last month I saw a tweet from Watershed inviting folks to a premier party for the bourbon barrel aged gin.  The party started at 11 and the gin was unveiled at midnight.  For me, this was an I'm too old for that crap moment. So I waited an additional week and bought it at the liquor store.  Was this story relevant?  Nope.

I have been anxiously awaiting this gin since I first heard about it a few months ago.  I was hoping for a Reese Cup Chocolate and Peanut Butter epiphany.  It's not that.  I get more smokey wood than bourbon notes when I taste it.  I've been trying to figure out if it would work bet in a gin or bourbon cocktail.  In the end, keep it simple and make a martini is the best thing to do.  I admit that after my second martini, I might be getting the vanilla sweetness from the bourbon.  There is the lesson for you.  When in doubt, drink more.

It tastes like their regular gin, which is good, with a light wood flavor in the finish.

Long Sleeves are for Pansies Martini

• 4 oz Bourbon Barrel Gin
• 1/8 oz sweet vermouth (using Cocci Vermouth di Tourino)
• STIR with ice and strain
• Rim the glass and garnish with a lemon twist

Ransom Old Tom Gin

What is an Old Tom Gin?  It's another "authentic" reproduction of a gin that used to be popular in ye olden times.  I have a couple of them in my bar and one of the consistent things about them is that they are sweeter than your typical London Dry.

This gin is cool for several different reasons.  It is partially made from a whiskey base, instead of a pure neutral spirit. It is also barrel aged.  It has your normal juniper, orange, coriander notes, along with a lot of cardamon and hint of sugar in the finish.  It costs $40 dollars and is a craft spirit worth the extra cash.

I am currently sipping on a variation of an Ephemeral Cocktail.

The Super Bowl is Harbaugh Free Cocktail.

• Two Shots Ransom Old Tom Gin
• 1/2 Shot Cocchi Vermouth Di Torino
• 1/2 Shot St. Germaine
• Several Dashes of Fees Grapefruit Bitters

Caorunn Scottish gin

Pronounced Ka-roon.

So what is scottish gin.  It's London Dry gin with...

One part rowan berry

One part heather

One part bog myrtle

One part dandelion

One part coul blush apple

It's actually quite pleasant.  It tastes a bit lighter than a London Dry, with some citrus flavor and a bit of sweetness.  It does not make me wince when I drink it neat, which is always a sign of a quality gin.  Well done.

Square One Botanical

This is part 2 of the ingredients for my improved Aviation.  I could list the botanicals, but why bother when they provide such a perfect picture.

It has enough complexity to qualify it as gin-like, instead of vodka, even though it has no juniper.  I think that the pear, rose, and lavender dominate. 

I've had a hard time trying to figure out what to do with this.  Most of the recipes on their website substitute Square One for gin in some classic recipes.  It has enough of a "wince factor" to make me not want to drink it straight or on the rocks.  This is caused because it is a rye based spirit, which obviously gets a thumbs up here, but rye is not to be trifled with lightly, and they could mix something else in the mash to soften the flavor.

I still recommend it.  Hell, I found a great use for it... which I will be sharing later.

Bluecoat Gin

This will be part "1 of n" reviews leading up to my improved version of a classic cocktail. 

Hint.  It rhymes with "Aviation". 

This is a great American style Gin.  Which means that it is a  London Dry done right.  It has all of the classic flavors of a London Dry, yet its much more approachable.  One of the questions that I ask myself when trying to discern the quality of a gin is... "Does it make me wince?"  This gin does not.  It has a lighter juniper flavor than your typical London Dry, with a bit of orange and other citrus notes.  It's quite nice by itself over the rocks, which is a lot more than I can say about most other gins.

Barrels? We don't need no stinking barrels. Part 2: Don't forget to "Cup the Bols"

Welcome back to our incredibly exciting series on white whiskey.  You might be asking yourself, what's genever?  Well, it's what gin used to be before the English took all the fun out of it.  You might also be asking yourself what this has to do with white whiskey.  We'll plagiarize their website for an explanation.

The heart of Bols Genever is a whiskey-like triple distillate made of corn, wheat and rye, which the Dutch called malt-wine.  This flavor-rich distillate is carefully blended with a juniper-berry distillate...

In other words, it's moonshine and juniper.  Shockingly, it's quite good with tonic.  Just make sure to add a squeeze of lime or lemon.  Or a dash of Fee's grapefruit bitters.

The "Cup the Bols" cocktail.

1 part Bols Genevere
1 part Rye Whiskey
1/2 part Sweet Vermouth
1/2 part Grand Marnier

Add ice.  Stir and drink.

Watershed Gin

Watershed Distillery is one of two distilleries producing spirits in Columbus.  Its an interesting name.  At first, I thought that the watershed is where you beat your kids back in the pioneer days; you know, back before there were Wal-Marts.  Turns out that was the woodshed.  A watershed is a strip of land between two rivers.  The distillery is located between the Scioto and the mighty Olentangy, so that works.  They are most likely going after the "watershed moment", which is the moment when everything changes.

That's all fine and dandy, but you probably are wondering if the gin is any good.  It is.  You get your typical juniper flavor that you would expect from a London dry.  It has a hint of citrus, and I think that it has a lot of cucumber.  Good stuff.

New Amsterdam Gin Revisited

The glorious day has finally arrived.  All of my not-so-hard work has paid off.  I have received a sample for review.

Free hooch.  Whoo-hoo!

I've reviewed New Amsterdam Gin before, and the original post can be found here.  I find it to be more of a cocktail gin.  It's more aromatic than the London Dry style that you are probably used to with the juniper flavor being more in the background.  Subsequently, I don't feel that it stands up well to tonic.  It does mix well with sweeter flavors. 

I gave a bottle to a friend for a gift last Christmas, and she didn't get to enjoy it because her sister pretty much sucked down the bottle.  I think that's a fine endorsement.

They have some pretty interesting cocktail ideas on their website.  I decided to throw my own recipe into the game; playing along with the New York theme.

The Mulberry Street Cooler  

• 1/2 ounce basil syrup (boil equal parts sugar, water, and basil leaves until the sugar dissolves.  Refrigerate and enjoy)
• 1 1/2 ounce of New Amsterdam Gin.
• Add lots of ice and top with Lemon Soda.  I used Fever Tree Bitter Lemon

  

Cocktail Test Drive: The Vesper

Scroll down two posts for the video for this recipe.

The Vesper is basically a variation on the Martini.  It has 3 shots of gin, 1 shot of vodka, which girlies it up a bit, and 1/2 a shot of fortified wine, in this case, Lillet Blanc.  I skipped the lemon twist because I don't have time for that crap.

This is not a cocktail for the pinkie out crowd.  It's booze, more booze, and a dash of more booze.  I approve.

Jim's Vesper (After she drowned)

3 Shots Gordons
1 Shot Vodka
1 Shot Lillet Blanc
1 dash of Grapefruit Bitters, in lieu of a lemon twist, because you don't garnish when you drink alone.

Gordon's London Dry Gin

Here's the second part of our exploration of the Vesper Cocktail.  I'd link to the recipe and the Kina Lillet review, but it's just one post down, you can handle the scrolling.  If you haven't read it yet, go ahead and check it out.

Gordon's Gin is the most popular gin in the world.  My research on the web says that it is made in 150 countries.  It's on the web, so it must be true.  My bottle was distilled in Norwalk, CT.  US of A.

Why is it so popular?  It's cheap.  At approximately $10 a bottle, you're not going to break the bank.  Flavor-wise, I get juniper.  Any other complexity that you may detect is merely wishful thinking.  As far as my house gin challenge goes, I'm sticking with Whitley Neill.

Grade: C
Cost Adjusted Grade: B

Union League Club

As you know, I made poulet au porto yesterday.  Now I have a bottle of port to kill, and I'm not the biggest port fan.  Port lasts for quite some tie after you open it, but it's just staring at me, daring me to drink it.  Time to dig out the cocktail book and see what we can find.

The Union League Club

2 oz gin
1 oz port
2 dashes orange bitters.
Ice:  Shake and strain, garnish with an orange twist.

Tastes like a purple glass of gin.
Won't be making this one again.

Fever-Tree Tonic

Two Parts Rye now has a new house tonic.  The previous tonic was Q tonic.  Which was the only tonic that I could find that was not made with corn syrup.  It's made with Agave syrup, and it's not at all sweet.  Fever-Tree is made with cane sugar, and it's just right.  It's not fake sweet like Schwepp's or the other mass market tonic waters.  Yet it does have some sweetness.

The only down side is that I have to fight my way over to the West Side to get to Whole Foods, which is the only store in town that has it in stock.

I re-tested Whitley Neill and Rogue Spruce for the house gin challenge, Whitley Neill is still the winner.  The martini portion of the challenge will occur one of these days.  It's difficult to work up the desire to drink 4 martini's.  The sacrifices that I make for my loyal readers.

House Gin Challenge: The Gin & Tonic

It's odd.  Not that long ago, my bar was disturbingly ginless.  Now I have 4.  Time for a gin challenge.  I'll be doing three challenges: neat, the martini, and the gin & tonic.  Which very well means that we could have 1-3 winners.  Like the other House challenges, we'll pit these winners against other brands as I acquire them.  Since gin always gives me a hangover, I'm pretty sure that keeping the the winners winners in stock won't be an issue.

We are using Q Tonic tonight, which is made with agave nectar instead of corn syrup.  It's lo-cal, still flavorful, and ridiculously expensive for a mixer.  If anyone knows of a cane sugar based tonic, I'd be interested.

It seems logical to see which of the Rogue gins works best.  I have already reviewed the Rogue Spruce gin.  The Pink Spruce takes it up a notch,  they age the spruce gin in pinot barrels.

The pink gin is slightly overwhelmed by the tonic.  The spruce on the other hand, overwhelms the tonic.  I'll go with the spruce since I still want to taste the gin.

The next semifinal will be between Whitley Neill London Dry Gin and New Amsterdam.  The Whitley Neill tastes like your protypical gin, with juniper and orange peel being the dominant flavors.  The vanilla flavor of New Amsterdam really comes through here.  I found that flavor to be nice when drinking it straight, but it is off-putting and tastes artificial when mixed with Tonic.

The final is Whitley Neill vs Rogue Spruce:  The battle of the evergreens.  The Rogue Spruce is really interesting.  It's just a little strong.  I'm going to go with the traditional style of Whitley Neill for my gin and tonic.  I'm looking forward to see how the Rogues and New Amsterdam work in a martini, but not tonight.  I feel my quinine hangover creeping in already.  At least I'm safe from malaria.

The House Gin & Tonic Winner: Whitley Neill.

Tales from the top shelf: Rogue Spruce Gin

This one just showed up at Weiland's.  I'm excited.  I like Rogue's beer a lot and I'm looking forward to trying some of their spirits.

Web stuff:
Proof: 90
Tasting Notes: Rogue Spirits released the first ever Spruce Gin, made with 14 ingredients in October of 2006

14 Ingredients: Spruce, cucumber, angelica root, orange peel, coriander, lemon peel, ginger, orris root, grains of paradise, tangerine, juniper berries. Champagne Yeast, Grain Neutral Spirit & Free Range Coastal Water.

The real tasting notes:  It's definitely got some pine flavor to it.  But lets be honest.  All gins do since they are flavored with juniper which is also an evergreen.  This one's got a bit of a bite, but it's not a bad bite.  Very drinkable on the rocks.  I have an idea for a cocktail.  Be right back.

Here's what I came up with.
2 Parts Spruce gin
1 part cointreau
Squeeze the juice of a lime wedge and drop the wedge in the glass.
Swirl and drink.

Yummm.  Booze.

Cost: $36.50
Grade: A-
Cost Adjusted Grade: B+

New Amsterdam Gin

They say that it's a gin "so smooth that you can drink it straight".  Surprisingly enough, they are right.  It has a light citrus flavor with a hint of juniper and a slight vanilla finish.  Where does a product called New Amsterdam come from?  California of course.

I've always loved gin, and I have the not so fond memories of past hangovers to keep me from coming back too often.

Update:  It does not mix well with tonic.  In fact, it's ghastly.  The bitterness of tonic makes the vanilla tastes artificial.

Cost: $14.15
Grade: C+
Cost Adjusted Grade: B