A unique, slightly odd, but delicious gin to put a spin on the classics.
Notes: Warwick Valley winery is New York State’s first distillery (since prohibition) located in the Hudson Valley area. Using New York State produce they produce a wide range of quality products. They also have a winery, cidery and bistro. While we haven’t been there yet the products we have sampled are wonderful and it sounds like a great place to visit.
They also produce a pear brandy, apple brandy, a bourbon barrel aged apple liqueur, Bartlett pear liqueur, and a black currant cordial as part of their American Fruits series in which the distillery uses fruit from their own orchard and farm. In this instance they use New York State grown for the base spirit along with some locally sourced botanicals
Appearance: Clear, flawless appearance, on swirling it leaves a thin coat on the glass with tears forming on the edge line,
First Impression: A nicely balanced melange of citrus and juniper with a hint of anise backing up the citrus and coriander and smoothing to any rough edges, Hints of angelica mix nicely with the anise to give the gin a slightly earthy note. The addition of lime peel ( most gins just use lemon) gives the gin a nice lime oil and bitterness moderated by the anisette make an unusual but quite tasty combination.
Taste: Spicy with a citrus forward entry followed by the juniper and then a little anise and coriander to give it spice but in a delightfully smooth way. Juniper is certainly present but not the defining ingredient
Drinks: Makes for a nice Martini, great in a gin and tonic, and very useful in a Last Word, and Aviation with the anise adding an exotic hint that you won’t find in another gin.I highly recommend this gin to bartenders as an exotic to explore and add new twists to a classic.
Bottle: Short clear glass bell shaped/apothecary shaped bottle with rounded shoulders shows the whiskey to excellent effect. Nice heft to the bottle and a good grade of clear glass with nice decanter base so it is solid and hard to knock over. Label has attractive graphics with a color rendering of a juniper branch with berries and needles and a attractive textured label that has a distinctive kind of ears for the extra information rather than a separate back label. Synthetic cork is topped by a natural wooden disk and makes for easy opening.
Other: The use of Anise and Lime peels give the gin a very distinctive profile.
Final Thoughts: A very well done and slightly,pleasantly, idiosyncratic mix of botanicals that give it a unique spin .Recommended for the adventurous and open minded to open up some new possibilities in gin cocktails
Website: http://wvwinery.com/
Nicely done website that is easy to navigate with lots of different parts to it but laid out well.