Review: Hendrick’s Orbium Gin   77/100
A review by Chip Dykstra
Posted October 05, 2023

Hendrick’s Gin is produced in Scotland, in the village of Girvin, Ayrshire by William Grant & Sons (who are perhaps better known for their whisky distillations than their gin).  It is made small batches using two unusual stills, a copper Bennett Still which has been dated to 1860, and a Carter-Head still made in 1948. These stills each serve a different purpose, but together they create a unique gin spirit which is infused with cucumber and rose petals.

The people who make Hendrick’s Gin pride themselves on being just a little quirky, and perhaps a bit eccentric. Their offbeat website revels in the odd and the peculiar and tries to convince all who peruse the site that Hendrick’s Gin is special exactly because of the things which make it odd and peculiar. Hendrick’s Orbium Gin is one of the new peculiar Limited Edition spirits in the Hendrick’s Cabinet of Curiosity lineup which has recently arrived in Canada sporting odd names like Flora Adora, Neptunia, Lunar and in this case Orbium Gin.

Orbium Gin was created by their Master Distiller Lesley Gracie, and released as a Limited Edition in 2019. According to the promotional materials the new Orbium is:

Henndrick’s Gin reimagined with additional extracts of Quinine, Wormwood and Lotus Blossom. Deeply and dazzlingly complex, Orbium combines surprising sweetness with a distinct lingering finish that spirals from zesty to floral, moving onto an altogether unexpected alluringly bitter climax.

Hendrick’s Orbium Gin is bottled at 43.4% alcohol by volume.

In The Bottle 5/5

All Hendrick’s Gins are sold in the squat cylindrical bottle shown to the left. At first, I thought the bottle was designed to look like a kettle still with its kettle pot shape. I think I was wrong, the shape instead is meant to replicate an old style apothecary bottle meant to add a curios charm to the overall presentation.

In The Glass 8/10

Orbium lives up to its billing as a peculiar curiosity! The nose is a contrast of personalities. On one hand we notice immediately the floral impact of rose petals and Lotus Blossom, and then on the other hand we notice the herbal thrust of anise, wormwood, and quinine. Juniper is left lost somewhere in the middle of the schizophrenic personality of the gin. We can sense the juniper, but it really seems to taking a back seat (or maybe even riding in the trunk).

Yet there is an appeal in the breezes (also a warning), The gin seem to promise a peculiar ride that while is may at first seem scary, it might also be exhilarating.  We’ll see if Hendrick’s can pull it off …

In the Glass 46/50

When I take a taste the bitter herbal side seems to win the war of identity as the quinine and the bark-like wormwood seem to gain strength as I sip leaving the florals behind. Interestingly that ribbon of juniper remains undisturbed. This makes me think that perhaps a gin and tonic cocktail might be a good destiny for the spirit. So I mix one, but remain unconvinced. The libation lacks the juniper punch required to tame the innate bitterness of the serving.  A better destiny perhaps is a cocktail that revels in the bitter side of life, the Negroni. A trial run with the classic recipe confirms this idea and although I cannot be totally persuaded, I nonetheless will grudgingly give Orbium a passing score in this section of the review.

In The Throat 10.5/15

The landing is bitter without the sweet. Maybe not entirely as a hint of sweetness does come though. But the respite is fleeting as is the impact of the other botanicals. In the end it is wormwood presses past the limited sweetnes before giving way to a punch of quinine that punctuates the exit.

The Afterburn 7.5/10

I have now sampled and reviewed four of the peculiar Limited Edition Gins from Hendrick’s. And I guess you can say I am unimpressed. Of the four, only the Neptunia managed to garner a score which might pique my interest in a retail setting, and even then the interest would be weak. The others, Flora Adora, Lunar Gin, and the subject of this review, Orbium leave perplexed. I guess I am not peculiar enough to appreciate these particular curiosities.

You may read some of my other Gin Reviews (click the link) if you wish to have some comparative reviews.

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Suggested Serving

Negroni

3/4 oz Orbium Gin
3/4 oz Sweet Vermouth
3/4 oz Campari 
Ice
Orange Peel garnish

Add ice to a shaker
Add Orbium Gin, Sweet Vermouth and Campari
Shake until chilled
Strain into a serving glass filled with ice
Garnish with Orange peel

Enjoy Responsibly!

Note: If  you are interested in more of my original cocktail recipes, please click this link (Cocktails and Recipes) for more of my mixed drink recipes!

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My Final Score is out of 100 and you may (loosely) interpret that score as follows:

0-25     A spirit with a rating this low would actually kill you.
26-49   Depending upon your fortitude you might actually survive this.
50 -59  You are safe to drink this…but you shouldn’t.
60-69   Substandard swill which you may offer to people you do not want to see again.
70-74    Now we have a fair mixing spirit.  Accept this but make sure it is mixed into a cocktail.
75-79    You may begin to serve this to friends, again probably still cocktail territory.
80-84    We begin to enjoy this spirit neat or on the rocks. (I will still primarily mix cocktails)
85-89    Excellent for sipping or for mixing!
90-94    Definitely a primary sipping spirit, in fact you may want to hoard this for yourself.
95-97.5 The Cream of the Crop
98+       I haven’t met this bottle yet…but I want to.

Very loosely we may put my scores into terms that you may be familiar with on a Gold, Silver, and  Bronze medal  scale as follows:

70 – 79.5    Bronze Medal (Recommended only as a mixer)
80 – 89.5     Silver Medal (Recommended for sipping and or a high quality mixer)
90 – 95         Gold Medal (Highly recommended for sipping and for sublime cocktails.)
95.5+            Platinum Award (Highest Recommendation)