Barr Hill Reserve Tom Cat Gin

I can't believe I haven't reviewed this. This pour is from the last quarter of a bottle that's been open for a couple months. This is my second bottle. Let's avoid the suspense, I like it a lot. This review from a sample tasted neat from a glencairn. The pour is a pale rusty orange and a swirl reveals significant sheeting and several small tears running back into the bowl. This is a nicely viscous pour even at room temperature and has a silky mouthfeel. The nose is slight lavender, slight sweet pine like you might get from a fresh Christmas tree, fresh sawn wood, a bit of over ripe cantaloupe, all against a slight haze of juniper. The nose is sweet and complex with no off-putting ethanol or chemical elements. Its an inviting aroma and easy to approach. On the palate this is woody, sweet, floral, cardamom, wildflower honey, slight black pepper, a bit of juniper. It's a complex quaff. This is a very interesting gin for a whiskey drinker. Beyond drinking neat or on the rocks. I'm blown away by this gin in cocktails. A Bees Knees with a ginger-honey syrup and fresh squeezed lemon juice is worth buying the bottle for alone. It's a near perfect cocktail. Use this anywhere a cocktail calls for Old Tom or Genever. It's not amenable to tonic, in my opinion. It makes a better ginger highball. It's quite delicious in a Martinez if your jam is something a bit richer and sweeter. Very original, very tasty and just a bit expensive, this rises above the ordinary.

Batch 17, 2017. Tasted neat. Floral and pine nose, juniper and honey, and wiff of the soft beeswax the cork and bottle neck was dipped in to seal. Full bodied and rich, sweet honey surrounds the juniper, and oak rounds and softens it. Some ethanol in that mouthful. Dry oak, sweet beeswax, and some dry baking spice lingers in a long round finish. Unusual gin, unusual Old Tom Gin, but familiar barrel aged flavors lightly coated in honey. I am a fan of barrel aged gins, so consider that if you're not. The honey sweetness sets this apart--too sweet? maybe, but what an experiment. This is a beautiful sipping gin (which I do rarely), delicious neat. Ice thins it out, but moderates the sweet and lets more juniper and oak through. I'll have to experiment mixing cocktails given how bold this is, but imagine an Old Tom Collins or Bees Knees (too sweet?, reduce honey) would be elegant and let the gin's character shine. More later. Just made a White Negroni with equal parts this, Luxardo Bitter, and Maurin dry vermouth over one iceberg. Soft, round, I'd probably up the white bitter proportion next time, but... elegant, easy to drink, a great Negroni intro for the bitter-timid. Reconsidering this again tonight, 4/23/21. This is a gin to saveur neat or with an ice cube, no need to mix. Upping this from 4.75 to a 5 for it's uniqueness.

An aromatic gin from Vermont that opens with notes of juniper berries & botanicals; it is aged for 6 months in new charred American White Oak adding notes of clementines, banana, caramel, & sawdust. It is unique with a whiskey character that finishes mellow. (2016 Barrel / Batch 3) March 2017 / July 2020

This is like a cocktail in a glass! Beautiful floral notes with a big sweeping body of honey on the nose. On the tongue the oak is perfect and it’s not too sweet or overaged. The botanicals come out with an exhale and the finish is perfect. Highly recommended over one big ice cube.

This is, by far, my favorite barrel-aged gin. There's a certain sweet, honey creaminess to the flavor. Works perfect in an old fashioned or a Fitzgerald (try with angostura and grapefruit bitters, as well as Earl Grey simple syrup) - an amazing Vermont, barrel-aged gin.

This is an interesting gin out of Vermont. Juniper and honey. That’s it. It’s also aged so it’s a little smoky. It’s a bit sweet for classic gin cocktails. Not good in a G&T or the Old Tom classic Tom Collins, but there is one that this is perfect for... Bee’s Knees