Malfy Gin Originale

I like the bottle art, label, and colors involved with this gin, and that was enough for me to sample a 50ml bottle. A good gin benefits from both a healthy amount of juniper, as well as a good combination of botanicals. It's very rare to find a gin that does both, but if it does one or the other, I find it's almost always the botanicals, and the juniper is left weak. So knowing that this is strong juniper and few botanicals is interesting, and somewhat rare, so I'm excited to dive in. Juniper and lemon peel are easily the first detected on the nose, but the juniper is not overpowering. There's also a healthy scent of floral flavors, with nothing specific detected. A slight cereal note is the first flavor I get, along with the floral scent, all riding on a healthy lemon peel and oil flavor. The juniper is here, but actually slightly weak indeed. The finish is weak, watery, and sweet, but a very slight ethanol burn does help alleviate this. The floral notes are accurate here, but the only reason one would call this a "juniper-heavy" gin is if they've never had a gin before. The juniper is prominent in this gin because there are so few ingredients; this distillery seems to pride itself on it's regional and national ingredient quality, so quality over quantity would be the idea here. And although this does have a quality taste, it's very lacking in a lot of regions (low proof, low botanical count, low juniper amount, etc), so unless you wanted to collect gins from around the world, there really isn't anything significant to this one.

Nose: Fragrant, zesty lemon, like lemon sherbet. Sweet orange, gentle juniper. Palate: Soft and sweet on the arrival with citrus dominating the essential juniper component. It remains this way through the palate although later the peppery juniper notes show through. The texture is velvety and slick. Finish: Medium. Soft and mild with no bitterness. This is a citrus forward gin but not so much as to be simply a "lemon-flavoured" gin (Malfy do make such a gin and I’ve reviewed it here previously). This does not have a particularly complex profile but its straightforward character is subtle and charming. It is enjoyable to sip neat over ice and it makes an excellently refreshing gin and tonic, but then I prefer a citrus-forward gin in that context anyway. For a martini I’d use something with a more classic juniper-forward profile. I’d buy this if was shopping for a light, fruity gin for summery drinks but there are also several other brands in this category, all of which are equally good. Tasted from a 50ml sample in a pack of four different Malfy gins. “Very Good” : 85/100 (4 stars)

Very light overall, slight juniper, slight lemon which feels a little one-dimensional compared to the much more lemon forward Malfy Gin con Limone. Very summery, dangerously easily drinkable.

A rough gin. I’ve heard the citrus version is much better, but this gin is not very good. Way too much heat and paint thinner taste for me. Disappointing, as a nice bottle.

Very lemon forward, which I suppose one can expect from the Amalfi region. Still hangs on to its juniper roots but the citrus is center stage.

nice gin, not earth shaking or incredibly complex flavours. easy to drink and reasonbly priced.