So, what gins do you like, and what do you like them in?
Hendricks is my current go to (hey, cucumbers, why not), but I had Blue Jacket a few years ago and thought it was good, although I can’t remember why.
My wife brought back a big green bottle of gin or a close relative from Minorca a while back and it was great, but darned if I can remember what it was. Started with an X and had a windmill on the label.
For G&T, I like the regular Bombay Dry Gin, not the Sapphire. Beefeater is also quite nice, but I’m not much of a gin connoisseur, so, if I have a bottle, it’s generally only one, and it’s Bombay Dry.
My go to gin at a bar is Beefeater. Plymouth is another one I like.
I’m always surprised that when Beefeater isn’t in stock (at a bar) they’ll sub in Bombay Sapphire. There’s nothing wrong with it, but it has so little taste.
Gin tastes are very particular, aren’t they? I personally love Tanqueray and it is what “gin” tastes like to me. Anything else is some variation on the thing which is epitomized by Tanqueray.
I don’t think it’s so much that the gin drinkers are particular it’s that gins taste so different. Unlike vodkas, which, let’s be honest, mostly taste alike, gins are more like tequilas which taste pretty different.
Also, most gin drinkers will drink other gins, it’s not that someone’s going to say 'WHAT, you’re out of Beefeater, well, I’ll just have a beer".
Tanqueray Rangpur style was my go-to for years. Then I tried Bombay Sapphire and my taste buds grew up a little. Rangpur is lovely, but it’s a lot sweeter and less bitey.
For those in the Chicago area there are a few small local distilleries doing some nice stuff …
Leatherbee’s is nice but the bottle of their springtime only Vernal Edition was wonderful.
I just bought a bottle of Old No. 176 Railroad Gin by Quincy Street Distillery that was available for tasting at a local Whole Foods which is very nice straight up. (Made from corn mash rather than vodka as the base spirit.)
My evil dad was a Beefeater martini guy, with Martini & Rossi dry vermouth. I’m a gin & tonic guy, when I’m in that mood. I don’t like vermouth. So it’s Schweppes tonic, a piece or two of lime, squoze and wiped around the inside of the rim, and usually Seagram’s gin. Beefeater is a special event gin for me.
A lot of Tanqueray fans here. That is the one gin I’m not fond of. That’s the beauty of gin though, they can taste very different and you chose the one you like.
