I am getting to the end of the library of gin bottles I have. I am still looking to procure a bottle of Napue from Finland or a Puerto Indias from Seville, Spain. Or for that matter, any other interesting gin that I have not researched, tasted and written on my blog about.

Today’s featured gin is New Amsterdam No.485. I have never had this gin before. Frankly, I was half expecting it to be very pine-y like all gins from the Netherlands. Given the color is crystal clear, I did not expect it to have any aging symptoms (like smoky flavors) as all other Tom Gins do from the Netherlands.

Imagine my surprise when I found out during my research that this gin is actually made in USA. Well, my guess was that it is from a distillery near New York (if you remember, New York was originally called New Amsterdam). Turns out this is made in Modesto distillery in California (yes, where a lot of Gallo wine is made).

The gin is rather intriguing. In fact the first question you might have after sipping a couple of times is “Is this really gin?”. It is overwhelmingly citrus forward. The juniper is very very light. I can see why some people have compared this to a flavored vodka. That said, there is a little juniper in the palate – so you cannot call this a vodka – or rather you have to call this a gin.

While some call it London Dry style, that is very confusing to me. With so little juniper, this is out and out an American Style gin to me. I am going to put this as a very citrus forward, American style gin.

The base is pure grain spirit. I have not come up with the exhaustive list of botanicals, but it is very safe to say that it has lemon rinds, orange peels and juniper.

The nose is citrus – mostly lemon and orange. The palate is very strong on the lemon and orange front. Towards the absolute back, you sense some of the pine characters of juniper. Else it is all citrus. The finish is on the shorter side and a little abrupt.

I tried it on the rocks today. Will try the G&T tomorrow.