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Posts Tagged ‘William Grant & Sons’

Review: Hendrick’s Original Gin

Posted by Arctic Wolf on May 23, 2023

Hendrick’s Gin’s Master Distiller, Ms. Lesley Grac, has been adding new limited releases to compliment the brand’s growing family of unusual piny spirits. Four of these new expressions, Hendrick’s Flora Adora (featuring a bouquet of fragrant flowers laid out especially by Ms Lesley Gracie), Hendrick’s Lunar Gin (rich with night blooming floral essence), Hendrick’s Neptunia (expresses the sensory delights of the sea coast), and Hendrick’s Orbium (re-imagined with extracts of quinine, wormwood and lotus Blossom) have become available in my locale, and I am expecting delivery of each of these at some point this summer.

 

This means it is a good time to reacquaint myself with Hendrick’s Original Gin and its unusual infusion of cucumber and rose petal.

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 seeks 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 and Fever Tree Tonic

The gin is produced in Scotland, in the village of Girvin, Ayrshire. The distillery sits  just about a mile inland overlooking the island of Ailsa Craig.  It is made small batches, on two different stills with 11 different botanicals, and infused with cucumber and rose petals.

Here is a link to my recently revised review of Hendrick’s Original Gin:

Review: Hendrick’s Orignal Gin

“… The nose begins with mild citrus tones which are accented by juniper. The influence of the rose petal is perhaps that touch of red berry I am noticing in the background, and a light cucumber influence can be found if I pay attention. I catch hints of lemon-lime and orange as well. And impressions of black licorice and fennel …”

This recent re-evaluation sees my scores for Hendrick’s Gin elevated by a few points as either my appreciation of the spirit is improving, or the spirit has improved.

Chimo!

(PS: Look for my upcoming review series of the Hendrick’s Limited Edition Gins to begin in June.

 

 

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Review: The Balvenie 12 Year Old Single Barrel

Posted by Arctic Wolf on April 10, 2014

Balvenie 12 SAM_1113The Balvenie Distillery is located at Dufftown which is of course, pretty much situated in the heart of the Speyside region of Scotland. This is a Single Malt Distillery; but one which holds the distinction of being the only such distillery where every part of the process of making whisky takes place right at the distillery. The distillery grows and malts its own barley (about 10 % of its total requirement); it has its own cooperage; and it has its own copper-smith. Owned by William Grant and Sons, the distillery is one of the top 10 producers (by volume) of Scottish Single Malt Whisky.

The Balvenie 12 Year Old Single Barrel is one of the company’s most recent offerings to arrive in Canada, and it replaces The Balvenie 15 Year Old Single Barrel whose stocks have been dwindling such that this expression is now quite hard to find (at least where I live). The 12 Year Old (like the 15 Year Old before it) is a true Single Barrel Whisky as each bottle is drawn from a single first-fill Bourbon cask selected by The Balvenie Malt Master, David Stewart. These casks were chosen to represent a consistent Balvenie character; however, each barrel will have its own unique character, and therefore each bottling from each unique barrel will be slightly different from each other. (And yes, this whisky spent its entire 12 year aging life in one single first-fill barrel.)

You may read my full review here:

Review: The Balvenie 12 Year Old Single Barrel

“… The breezes above the glass indicate that the whisky has a firm oak character as those breezes are filled with a firm presence of clean oak spice. This woody spiciness is accented (quite nicely) with vanilla, sawgrass and almond scents. As the glass breathes, the whisky breezes become more complex bringing forward additional hints of butterscotch, honey and some sweet beer-like malt …”

Note: Only 300 cases of this limited edition single malt are available for purchase at LCBO stores across Ontario starting February 2014. There were previously 300 cases released for purchase in Alberta in December 2013.

Posted in Scotch Whisky, Single Malt Whisky, Whisk(e)y, Whisk(e)y Review | Tagged: , , , , , | 1 Comment »

Review: Hendrick’s Gin

Posted by Arctic Wolf on December 7, 2011

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.

The 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 (450 litre batch size) using two unusual stills, a copper Bennett Still which has been dated to 1860, and a Carter-Headstill made in 1948. These stills each serve a different purpose, but together they create a unique gin made with 11 different botanicals, and infused with cucumber and rose petals one batch at a time.

I was provided with a bottle of Hendricks Gin by the William Grant media team here in Canada for the purpose of a review on my website. I guess it is time to find out if the Gin is as peculiarly good tasting as advertised.

Here is an excerpt from my review:

“… The nose begins with mild citrus tones which are accented by juniper.  I catch hints of lemon-lime and orange as well as a fleeting impression of black licorice and fennel. The impressions continue to be fleeting with hints of light familiar scents, perhaps a touch of lilac, and perhaps something more earthy like damp moss. This is very complex …”

You may read my full review as well as my take on a quirky Gin and Tonic by clicking the link below:

Review: Hendrick’s Gin

Please enjoy the review and the quirky cocktail!

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