Category Archives: Gin

Gin season continues here, with a true oddity: The only gin distilled in Scotland. [UPDATE: Errrr, so is Hendrick's. Sorry about that, folks.]

Scotland, the legendary home of malt whisky, is hardly a land known for gin, which must be seen as a bit of a girly drink for the pansies who live on the southern part of the island. So leave it to the Scots to do something a bit different: Triple distilled from grain and infused with rowan berry, bog myrtle, heather, Coul blush apple, and dandelion leaf (in addition to six traditional botanicals, juniper, coriander, orange and lemon peel, angelica, and cassia), it’s an odd duck from the start — and something fitting of this often harsh, wind-swept land.

Despite all the crazy-sounding aromatics, Caorunn (pronounced ka-roon) is a very pleasant and largely traditional gin. Juniper is quite evident, with citrus notes close behind. All that bog myrtle and dandelion seems to do something, altogether lending a fun vanilla note to the finish, but otherwise Caorunn keeps its clogs firmly planted in the London dry style of ginmaking, just a bit eased off on the juniper pedal and throttled a touch more toward the sweet side.

It’s a gin that’s hard not to like but doesn’t offer quite enough nuance or uniqueness to love.

83.6 proof.

B+ / $35 / caorunngin.com

Nolet’s (not Nolet, mind you) hails from Holland, part of a new wave of ultra-premium gins flavored with unexpected ingredients. Nolet’s (distilled from the same wheat as Ketel One) lets you in on three of them — the rest are kept secret — but one of the big three immediately jumps out.

That ingredient: Turkish rose petals. Tasted neat, Nolet’s is a floral bomb, almost overpowering in its perfumy nature. Other revealed ingredients — white peach and raspberry — aren’t as forward, but if you try Nolet’s with a twist of lemon it will help to keep the flower petals at bay and allow the fruit to shine a little more clearly, along with a little bit of a citrus kick.

Nolet’s is obviously well crafted, but it’s hard not to think that the distillery overdid it a little bit with the flower petals. In cocktails and in other gins, floral elements tend to go an awfully long way, especially in an overproof (95.2 proof) spirit like this. The pale yellow color is enchanting, and over time the roses do start to fade (as with perfume) and you find a little more fruit and a touch of juniper in the mix. The finish, after an hour in the air, even starts to take on a dark chocolate character… but that’s a long time to wait to drink a glass of gin.

As a side note, Nolet’s is also the creator of one of the most expensive spirits — and easily the priciest gin — I’ve ever tried, Nolet’s Reserve Dry Gin. This limited edition bottling saw just 400 bottles produced this year, and if you can find one, expect to pay about $700 for it. (No typo there!)

I tried it. The character? Quite similar, but with a little more sweetness, some vanilla, and a bit less of the rose character on the tongue. Is it worth close to four figures for a bottle? I think the price is crazy — despite the saffron used to make it — but gin fanatics may feel otherwise.

B+ / $50 / noletsgin.com

One can hardly talk about Martin Miller’s gin without talking about Martin Miller. Miller is a self-described “gypsy” who often compares himself to Richard Branson — presumably because of the flowing locks both of them share. Miller made his money in mail-order dating, an antiques guide book, and a bed and breakfast before turning to hotels in England and finally gin. Now 10 years old, Martin Miller’s gin is an upscale bar standard, though it is far from exorbitantly priced.

But enough about him, here he has his own vanity spirit, a single-batch copper pot gin, steeped overnight with juniper, coriander seed, angelica root, citrus peel, orris root — and some oddities — powdered licorice, nutmeg, cinnamon, and cassia bark. It is distilled in England, then shipped to Iceland where it is cut with water.

The results are on the powerful side for gin. The aroma hints at traditional, if muted, juniper notes, but the body packs more of a wallop: Quite a bite, with a distinct lemon finish (which is odd, since there is no lemon in it). All those herbal additions don’t do much to cut through it. Martin Miller’s is powerfully citrus on the whole — there’s even grapefruit here  — and maybe too much so. It’s not as wholly in balance as I’d like it to be, and the bite is a little tougher than it ought to be. It has some charms, but I think it requires just the right cocktail (and not a martini) to show off its biggest strengths.

This gin is 80 proof, but a stronger version, at 90.4 proof, is also available.

B+ / $29 / martinmillersgin.com

Wemyss (pronounced “WEEMS”) is well-known for its line of Scotch whiskys, and now the Wemyss family is taken an enormous leap into the world of white spirits, offering its first ever gin.

Darnley’s View is a London Dry Gin, flavored with just six botanicals, a scant number in a world of gins that commonly see 15 or more ingredients in the mix.

Darnley’s View is largely traditional, with juniper, lemon peel, coriander seed, angelica root, and orris root in the mix. The one big addition: elderflower, practically a weed on the Wemyss estate. It’s quite evident here, with that sweet lychee character giving the gin a charming, exotic character without being overpowering. What’s missing? Some orange peel — a traditional element in gin — would have added more balance — and frankly, Darnley’s View could benefit from a bit more juniper.

With its clean and light finish and sweet overtones, this is a great mixing gin, particularly in cocktails that use fruit juices in the mix. A martini wouldn’t be out of line, either.

On the whole, this is a solid workhorse of a gin, one that has just a little bit of uniqueness to keep things interesting and alive.

80 proof.

B+ / $40 / darnleysview.com