Batch 206 Old Tom Counter Gin

NOTE: The Distiller review is for the old version of this, which was under 18 months old and is therefore not indicative of the quality of this gin. The nose has a mellow spiciness that displays juniper but also sweetness, corriander, cinnamon, and fresh laundry. The palate mixes a syrupy caramel sweetness with a dry hit of numbing menthol and clove. It's interesting and tasty with its own unique flavor profile rather than the standard mush of flavors. Subsequent sips make the fresh juniper taste a bit too strong and overpower the sweetness a fair bit, though the sweetness does fight back. This is interesting, but I would like some more depth to round out the aggressive juniper. The sweetness tastes kind of disjointed from the juniper. Lots of lavender, corriander, and vanilla come in too, balancing nicely with the juniper. Although it could use some refinement, this is a pretty solid gin with a nice sweet profile. Reading that it contains terragon, I can definitely taste that flavor too. I rather enjoy this gin with its balance of spices and floral flavors. The juniper could be toned down a tad though. I have no idea how the Distiller reviewer didn't get any juniper (Update: I know now that they tried a version that was substantially less than half as old as this one). I do get a bit of that chamomile they mentioned, so maybe they lumped the juniper in with that? In focusing on a small number of botanicals, Batch 206 delivers a gin with distinct an identifiable components. The sweetness does have a bit of hummingbird food to it that I wish was more integrates with the rest of the drink, but that's far from a damning problem. There's a young flavor here that was probably too assertive when this was unaged, but is a lot more palatable now.