Esmé Gin

I thought it would be interesting to compare two French gins with the same ABV, similar price point, and similar botanical make up – that screams side-by-side opportunity to me. I feel a little hoodwinked though because I thought they were both distilled gins; the Esmé is a distilled gin while apparently the G.W. Goodwynn is a London Dry Gin. So slightly less comparable, but it could still be informative to see which comes out on top. Here’s a quick rundown of what I could find out about Esmé: Style: Distilled Gin Country of Origin: France Disclosed Botanicals: juniper, citrus, spice (ok, so they’re not really disclosed); infusions of rose and cucumber ABV: 40% (100% neutral grain spirit from French winter wheat) Price: $22.99 Nose: Very light. So light I grabbed my bottle of Empress 1908 to check my sensitivity. If Empress 1908 is at volume 10, this is like 3. Juniper is predominant but very muted; there’s floral and citrus but it is buried in there. Palate: Oh, there it is! Light bodied and creamy mouthfeel. A quick succession of juniper, lemon peel, cucumber water, and rose petals. Crisp, fruity and floral, faint earth. Not getting much in the way of spice. Finish: Medium length with a bit of spice and a very prominent rose aftertaste that transitions to long lasting juniper. Verdict: I liked this at first, probably because I was surprised there was any flavor in the dram after the disappointing nose. Then, as I kept sipping, the lemon became more soapy. There may be no lemon peels in the mix whatsoever, but I am getting a lot of lemon dish soap now. Additionally, I think this is way too delicate to stand up to mixing. And I could be wrong, but I don’t know how well that lemon dish soap would play in cocktails. Probably best to try this neat if you’re looking for a lemon-forward sipping gin but I'd say look elsewhere for a mixer (unless you have ideas for this - if so, let me know below!). 3.25 ~ Average

Rating: 14/23 This is more floral and less traditional tasting than Regent. It's balanced and delicate, though the sweetness can be a bit much and exacerbate some element of 5he alcohol flavor a tad, making it taste just the slightest fraction like Dial dish soap. I still generally like this and I would say that it's better than the Esmé vodka, but I'm not sure I like it as much as before. Still, it's pretty enjoyable, though a very situational gin. Green house gin is far more fruity and floral, with lots of green apple coming through rather than just tasting like roses, making it more opinionated and therefore perhaps less versatile but more suited to specific fruity gin drinks. Green house is smoother with a more mature sweetness and subtle fruitiness to it. It's very sweet, but it does a good job of executing the fruity floral gin profile. I think I'd take it over Esmé.

There's a hair of floral make, but it's otherwise shockingly light. The palate is super floral with some bitter pine balancing it out. It's light and not at all traditional, but it actually really works. Wow, it's sure fun to take a break and taste the roses here. This would be very risky to use for mixing given its flavor profile, but it's quite enjoyable to sip. I'm actually not sure what it would be good to mix in unfortunately, but that doesn't make it less good of a gin. It's smooth, though it can't hide its harshness behind alleged spices since there's no spice flavor. But it does have the pine and that's a bit spicy, so it really does help here. If say that this is a tad better than the Esmé vodka. Quite nice! OK, there actually is a little prickly spice here too. There's a nice clean spring water flavor hiding under the floral flavors, sweetness, and pine.

Nose - juniper, lemon and orange zest, rose, vanilla icing, floral notes, lavender, mild ethanol burn. Taste - juniper, lemon zest, rose, sweet floral notes, cucumber, black pepper, mild to moderate alcohol bite, finishing fast with juniper, bitter citrus, and pepper flavors. This is very average. It tastes like a classic London Dry Gin, but the flavors are muddled and generally difficult to discern. I like this a bit better than the GW Goodwynn and Bombay Sapphire, but not as much as Beefeater and Tanqueray, so I’ll give it an average rating.

Nose is of lemon Lysol but in the best way possible. Also has a very minty and mountain character, reminiscent of Fernet Branca or Braulio minus all the bitterness. Coriander seed comes through well too. Taste is bright and sweet. Incredibly floral fruit flavors that were a dead ringer for Asian pear. After the initial hit of Asian pear, the lemon peel and coriander crescendo. I personally love it when modern gins experiment with flavor profiles like this. Looking forward to picking up a full size bottle next time.

A crisp, modern spin on London Dry Gin from France that has an aromatic birth with notes of juniper & cucumber; while a full life adds notes of rose petals & coriander that led to a long & complex death. November 2015 / Januar7 2018