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Posts Tagged ‘Gin Review’

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Gin and Tonic Challenge – Dictador Ortodoxy and Tonic

Posted by Arctic Wolf on August 24, 2014

Ortodoxy and tonic SAM_1248Dictador Ortodoxy Aged Gin is the result of the passion of former President of Dictador, Dario Parra, who had during his many travels in the United Kingdom developed a tremendous love for gin. Dario studied many gin recipes and when he arrived back home in Colombia he developed a gin for his own personal use, utilizing traditional ingredients in conjunction with berries and botanicals native to Colombia. Dario Parra’s passion resulted in the creation of two aged gins which are now sold internationally, Dictador Treasure, and Dictador Ortodoxy.

Dictador Ortodoxy has been constructed to have a traditional, or orthodox, flavour profile which will be familiar to gin enthusiasts. This gin is produced from sugar cane alcohol which is distilled 4 times to 96 % alcohol by volume. During the 5th distillation each botanical is macerated and distilled separately before being blended. The blended gin is then aged for 35 weeks in previously used rum barrels, and then filtered clear to be bottled at 43 % alcohol by volume.

When I reviewed this gin earlier in the summer, I admitted to being blown away by how it performed in a standard G & T cocktail. It should not be surprising then, that the Dictador Ortodoxy and Tonic has received a very high score in this competition, in fact with only a few more gins to go in my challenge, it has rocketed to the top of the pack being the first gin to score in the 90’s!

The G&T Score for the Dictador Ortodoxy Aged Gin, based on my standard G & T cocktail is an outstanding 91/100.

Just so you do not have to keep track of these scores yourself, I have constructed a separate page to keep a running tally of all scores as they are published, and you may refer to that page here:

Rum Howler 2014 Gin and Tonic Challenge

As well you may read my published review of Dictador Ortodoxy Aged Gin here:

Review: Dictador Ortodoxy Aged Gin

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Note: I was provided a sample bottle of Dictador Ortodoxy Gin for this challenge by Thirsty Cellar Imports, who are responsible for its importation here in Alberta.

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Gin and Tonic Challenge – Ungava Gin

Posted by Arctic Wolf on August 23, 2014

Ungava and Tonic SAM_1257Ungava Gin is a product of Domaine Pinnacle a family owned orchard and cidery located on a beautiful heritage property near the historic village of Frelighsburg in the Eastern Townships of Quebec, Canada. Although primarily known for their Ice Cider and Maple Creams, Domaine Pinnacle also produces a very unusual Gin called Ungava.

In case you do not know, the Ungava Peninsula sits at the northern extreme of Quebec, between Labrador and the Hudson Bay. This is at first glance, a barren uncompromising land situated atop the tundra of the North Canadian shield. There are no trees to be found, and Tundra stretches (seemingly) endlessly from Ungava Bay in the east all the way to Hudson Bay in the West. To the North are the cold waters of the Hudson Strait which separates the Ungava Peninsula from Baffin Island to the North. This is (again at first glance) not the ideal place from which to begin the idea of creating a new gin.

However, if one looks a little closer (although, of course, you must look in the summertime), and if one talks to the Inuktitut people who have lived in the region for centuries, one will discover that there are a variety of botanical plants growing in the tundra right before your eyes. Six of these unique arctic botanicals (which grow wild in the region) are used in the construct of the Gin that bears this regions name. These botanicals, Nordic Juniper, Crowberry, Labrador Tea, Cloudberry, Arctic Blend, and Wild Rose Hips are hand-picked in the summertime and serve to bring a unique Northern Canadian charm to the Ungava Gin.

The flavour of the Ungava Gin represents a nice melding of piny bitterness and herbaceous spiciness with lemon citrus. The floral elements within serve more as an accent than as a main attraction. I found myself drawn to the complex flavour profile which was moderately aggressive and perhaps much more traditional than I expected. And as far as G&T cocktails go, the Ungava rocks out a strong piny mixed drink, full of character.

My G&T Score for the Ungava Gin is 88.5/100, a score which puts this Canadian Spirit with its unique northern botanicals near the top of the leader board.

You may find a running tally of all of the G&T Scores here:

Rum Howler 2014 Gin and Tonic Challenge

As well you may read my published review of Ungava Gin here:

Review: Ungava Gin

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Note: I was provided a sample bottle of Ungava Gin for this challenge by Crush Imports, who are responsible for its importation here in Alberta.

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Gin and Tonic Challenge – No. 3 London Dry Gin

Posted by Arctic Wolf on August 22, 2014

London No. 3 SAM_1251Berry Bros. & Rudd is London’s oldest wine and spirits merchant with over 300 years of experience and tradition to draw on. Using this expertise and a team of spirits experts they created No. 3 London Dry Gin. I first sampled the No. 3 Gin a few years ago at a store called Lacombe Park Spirits in St. Albert, Alberta. I had come to know the proprietors, Karim and his brother Jeff, quite well, and when Karim discovered that I was about to venture into a series of Gin reviews he insisted that I try one of his favourites. I was convinced after one sip that this was a gin which I wanted to review, and after contacting the website for No. 3 London Dry Gin, Ross Hendry from Berry Brothers & Rudd, arranged for me to receive a bottle sample with the help of the local distributor Charton Hobbs.

No. 3 London Dry Gin uses only 6 botanicals in its construction, Juniper, Spanish Orange Peel, Grapefruit Peel, Angelica Root, Coriander, and Cardamom Pods. In my review, I note how each of these botanicals (with the juniper taking a strong lead) leaves its imprint upon the spirit, and how in particular, the dry juniper flavour shone through the cocktails I built. When I built a few G&T cocktails this past  weekend with my sample bottle of No. 3 Gin I again noticed the strong flavour of the gin running through the mixed drink. In fact an obvious ribbon of juniper permeated the cocktail which gave the drink a firm lightly bitter flavour and somewhat drier than usual mouth feel. It is of course a matter of taste; but I found that light bitter dryness of the G & T cocktail extremely refreshing. I did, at the same time however, find that the elegant simplicity of this London Dry Gin seemed to be (for my palate anyways) better suited to be mixed in a Dry Martini. And to be honest, that will be the more likely destiny of the rest of my sample bottle.

My G&T Score for the No. 3 London Dry Gin is a solid 86/100. If I was to award a Dry Martini Score, it would have been much higher (perhaps next year).

You may find a running tally of all of the G&T Scores here:

Rum Howler 2014 Gin and Tonic Challenge

As well you may read my published review of London Number. 3 Gin here:

Review: No. 3 London Dry Gin

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Gin and Tonic Challenge – Beefeater 24

Posted by Arctic Wolf on August 19, 2014

Beefeater 24Beefeater 24 and T SAM_1250  is advertised as being handcrafted with 12 botanicals which include grapefruit, bitter almond, orris root, Seville orange peel, rare Japanese Sencha tea and Chinese green tea. This makes Beefeater 24 gin more complex in construction than the previously reviewed Beefeater London Dry Gin which listed 9 ingredients in its construction. There are other differences as well, the major one being that in my market, Beefeater 24 is bottled at a significantly higher proof (45 % versus 40 % alcohol by volume) which to me is very welcome indeed. As well, all of the ingredients for the newer gin are apparently steeped in grain alcohol for 24 hours prior to a 7 hour distillation where the master distiller makes an artisan cut by hand from the heart of the distillation run.

Beefeater 24 Gin is crisp, fresh and delightful in the glass. The flavours are balanced with the juniper and citrus zest forming a wonderful duo upon the palate. In my review, I admit that once I made my first Gin and Tonic with this spirit, I spent the next couple of days making more. When I re-tested the spirit for my Gin and Tonic Challenge this week, I fell in love with the Beefeater 24 all over again. Of course this means that the Beefeater 24 Gin scored very well.

My G&T score for this fabulous gin is 89.5/100 points.

You may find my running tally of all of the G&T Scores here:

Rum Howler 2014 Gin and Tonic Challenge

As well you may read my published review of Beefeater 24 here:

Review: Beefeater 24 Gin

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Gin and Tonic Challenge – Bombay Sapphire Gin

Posted by Arctic Wolf on August 18, 2014

Bombay Sapphire & Tonic SAM_1253Bombay Sapphire is a brand of gin owned and distributed by Bacardi. It was launched in 1987 and draws its unusual name from a competition where several marketing agencies were asked to submit possible names and bottle designs for the new Gin. Bombay Sapphire, the chosen name, refers to the British Empire and the heritage for the spirit in India as gin was an extremely popular spirit during the time of the British Raj. The Star of Bombay (featured on the label) is a famous Indian Sapphire now on display at the Smithsonian Institute.

Bombay Sapphire is produced through a double distillation of a neutral grain spirit with botanicals added during the second distillation. The botanicals used in its production are, Spanish almonds and lemon peel, West African grains of paradise, Chinese licorice, juniper berries from Tuscany, orris root from Italy, angelica root from Saxony, coriander seed from Morocco, cassia bark from Indo China, and cubeb berries from Java.

When I reviewed this spirit I commented upon how well-balanced its flavours were which made it hard for me to distinguish individual botanicals. However, one aspect of the flavour which did stand out (with the juniper of course) was the vibrant citrus. When I mixed my Gin and Tonic cocktails for this challenge, I found that the push of fruit worked particularly well when I replaced the hit of lime in my mixed drink with a hit of lemon instead (see recipe here).

Based upon how nice the resulting Gin and Tonic cocktail tasted with that hit of lemon, my G&T Score for the Bombay Sapphire Gin was 87/100 points.

I am keeping track of all of these scores here:

Rum Howler 2014 Gin and Tonic Challenge

As well you may read my published review of Bombay Sapphire here:

Review: Bombay Sapphire Gin

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