Hendrick's Gin

3.12.22 Served: Neat, Flute. Bottle Open: 10 Months near empty, Same Day (Side by Side) Every time I finish a bottle that has been sitting on my shelf for a while, I like to do a side by side tasting with a fresh bottle to see if I notice any loss of flavor due to oxidation. all my bottles are stored in the dark, but I have not taken measure to reduce the amount of air in them. Aroma: The difference is astounding. The old bottle smells soapy, savory, powdery,grainy, and floral. Gin is often too complex and has botanicals with which I am too unfamiliar for me to pick out more than a couple aroma notes. Here I only get juniper and generic citrus bar soap (very dull lemon, not the like the bright oil expressed from a peel). The new bottle has a much more pronounced aroma and a much more vegetal nature. After heady citrus and juniper notes fade, the nose settles to cucumber peel. Flavor: (Meet me with some skepticism, I just ate a lot of sugar, and tried so solve this with jerky and club soda). My refractometer shows only a 1-2% drop in abv in the old bottle. If any evaporation occured, it was likely of both ethanol and water in tandem. The old bottle is smoothed over. Very little complexity on the tongue. A bit more like floral handsoap now. The new bottle is, in simple terms, much more flavorful. The smoothness of the cucumber is the first impression. The rose is more evident in the middle of the sip. The Juniper is on the back end, and the finish is quite bitter (again, could be the sugar talking. I'm refraining from giving a rating. The purpose of this exercise was to observe oxidation, and my palate is not fully reliable due to wierd food and dehydration. Hendrick's, I will see you again soon.

A 375 ml bottle from a BC government liquor store on Robson St in Vancouver. Widely available in government stores. Noted the strength is 44% ABV, a factor to consider when comparing prices between brands. Gordon’s is my value-for-dollar favorite, but is 40%. Also in the 375 ml size, it comes in a plastic bottle, not everyone’s favorite, but for immediate use, who gives a hang, eh? Sorry, reader, I digress. Back to Hendrick’s. Wonderful, and not heavy on juniper, more to citrus and other subtle herbal notes. If you like lots of the berry of the juniper bush, stay away. Worth the money for those of us who enjoy our gin neat, and savor the nose as much as over the gums! Dunno as I’d bother if my taste ran to gin & tonic. I do like a well made gin & tonic in warm weather only, but I’d be loathe to use a premium gin for that.

Some nice aromatics, although I can’t quite identify everything but maybe some pine. Taste has some slight medicinal qualities, but not in a bad way. The finish is sweeter than expected, but leaves your mouth feeling refreshed. Nice with a touch of club soda. I’m not sure this convert’s me to a Gin guy, but I could see picking up a bottle to enjoy in the summer when you’re looking for something light and different.

One of my favourites, Hendrick's delivers on both taste and smell. The smoothness is right there as well - there is no harshness to it at all, but a slight welcoming tanginess tells you that you'd better be cautious about indulging yourself just a tad too much. The botanicals work beautifully to create a round taste that excites your sensory just the right amount.

My second favorable comment and review on this one, and just finishing off the last ounce ‘n a harf of a half bottle. My first bottle and certainly not my last. This stuff just gets better, iow, it grows on yuh. The nose is magnificent, and the extra 4 percentage points of alcohol sharpen the nose and flavor. Yum!

Smooth, cool cucumber; great on a hot summer day with a twist of lemon, a lump of ice, and just a splash of tonic. Thatcher's wishes it was this good. Always has a place on my shelf, even though I do prefer Botanist for general cocktail use.