This is a staple gin in every bar in US. In fact, ironically, it is not as popular in its country of origin as it is in US. It is one of the highest selling (if not THE highest selling) gins in the USA. The origins of this gin is pretty interesting. A renegade son of a pastor – way back in 1830 – that would be nearly two hundred years back – started making gins in a distillery in London.

The formula has never changed since. The ownership of the distillery has changed many times. In fact, even the location of the distillery has changed! After the second World War, the distilleries were relocated to Scotland. Which is where it still is.

This is quintessential gin. Very juniper forward. And also very few botanicals (I think only four). The distillation process itself is fairly standard with the exception that the botanicals are not macerated.

The nose is juniper forward, the palate has the juniper followed by a citrusy spicy flavor that will fill your mouth and then the finish is spicy and long. Got some fair amount of strength/heat to it due to the near 100 proofness in alcohol content.

I had thrown this bottle in the car when Sharmila and I went for the roadtrip. It did not even last half the trip 🙂

I went deep inside my liquor cabinet and fished this bottle out. For the life of me, I cannot remember where I got this bottle from. I had not heard about it before and kept reading the label on the bottle to figure out what might have piqued my interest. Nothing stood out. Perhaps, I was given this as a gift.

In any case, tried researching on this gin. There is not much material on this gin. Part of the reason is that it is a very new gin. In fact, it started making enough to ship to the south only a few months back. The distillery is based out of Fredericksburg, VA.

The distillery makes three gins – curiously named Recipe #4.2, 6.3 and 7.4

This is the 7.4 version. Made from base alcohol of corn extract (they proudly call it American Corn), this gin has Jasmine Green Tea, Ginger, Lemongrass, Italian Juniper, Coriander and others as its botanicals. The herbs are vapor infused in a standard copper still.

With Green Tea, Ginger and Lemongrass, I was expecting a very different gin. I cannot say it met those expectations. Perhaps, they need a few more years to tinker around the right amounts. They call it “Curiously Bright and Complex”. I am still curious. Did not see the bright or complex part.

On the nose, it was more citrusy. The palette was pretty flat juniper. I was hoping to get some tea, ginger and the bite of lemongrass in the nose and palette. Did not get that. The length was reasonable.

Probably good to use this in cocktails.

I will give it a second try to make sure I am not selling this gin short. But as of now, I will wait for a few more years till they have figured out a better way to get the botanicals to have a stronger say on the nose and palette.

Gin (Tanqueray Rangpur), sweet vermouth and brandy…