Long Island Spirits is the producer of LiV Vodka and other products — and now it’s at long last expanding into gin (after six reported years of tinkering with the recipe). Deepwells takes the triple-distilled LiV potato-based distillate and infuses it with 28 botanicals — 9 local botanicals and 19 “exotic” ones. That botanical list is exhaustive, and reads like this: almonds, apple, anise, basil, chamomile, cinnamon, coriander, cubeb berries, cucumber, elderflower, fennel, grains of paradise, grapefruit peel, honeysuckle, juniper berries, lavender, lemon peel, licorice root, lime peel, merlot leaf, nutmeg, orange peel, orris root, pansy flowers, pear, pineapple, spearmint, and watermelon.

Damn.

That is a huge list of stuff.

Watermelon? Pansy flowers? Everything you could possibly think to put into gin is here, and lots of stuff you couldn’t.

I’m pleased to report the nose smells nothing like watermelon but rather offers notes of wet earth, saddle leather, forest floor, and indistinct evergreen notes. On the palate, it’s a bit muddy, with some bitter citrus character colliding with some of the earthier elements, like orris and coriander. There’s so much gritty, earthy depth here it’s hard to appreciate some of the spirit’s more interesting characteristics — including some delicate floral notes that emerge as the finish starts to show. But ultimately this seems to be a textbook case of trying to jam too much into one bottle and ending up with a melange of flavors that just don’t seem to get along entirely well.

Maybe skip the watermelon next time?

94 proof.

B / $33 / lispirits.com

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