Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/6221
Vader's lightsaber. Its recipe is also closely guarded, but saffron is suspect, as evidenced by color and taste. Lemon, licorice, almond and juniper also push through; anything else is masked by a thick alcoholic bite. But three years ago, a slightly toned-down 92-proof Old Raj Blue (named after the carton's color, to differentiate it from the 110 proof's red) made its appearance. "We started carrying the lower proof so it could be used in more cocktails," says Ken Young, Operations Manager of Preiss Imports. "The 110 shines in a Martini, but can overpower the ingredients in a mixed drink. The 92 proof has been quite successful for this reason, especially in cocktails like the Aviation, which we make with Old Raj Red, Luxardo Maraschino liqueur, Pagès Pure Grape sugar syrup, Pagès Parfait Amour violet liqueur and fresh lemon juice." Plymouth, the only gin with a geo- graphical pedigree, is also available in a high-octane version, a 114 proof bottling only found at the distillery. But the thick, creamy texture of the traditional 82.4 proof is now joined by Plymouth Sloe Gin, an 1883 recipe of Dartmoor water and Plymouth infused with sloe berries that has finally made it to America thanks to Pernod Ricard. I discovered Plymouth Sloe Gin at the distillery a few years back, when I had it with champagne as a Sloe Motion and, of course, in a Sloe Gin Fizz. Another take on an old favorite, Pernod Ricard's Beefeater, has begat Beefeater 2 4, the difference being that this London dry gin (the only one still distilled in London) is made with nine botanicals, while "24" adds three extra ingredients: grapefruit peel, Chi- nese green tea and Japanese sencha. And while French Citadelle can boast 19 botanicals, the most of any gin, it now comes in a pale brown version as vintage-dated Citadelle Reserve, aged six months in cognac barrels, resulting in a faint but distinctive oak- wood character. It's imported by W. J. Deutsch & Sons. Also hailing from France, the delicately floral G'Vine, from Eurowi- negate, comes in two essences. G'Vine Florasion is infused with nine botani- cals plus delicate grassy notes of the grape vine flower harvested before it becomes a berry. G'Vine Nouaison spends less time in contact with bo- tanicals and blossoms, resulting in a more gin-like character. Equally individualistic is the thick herbal flavor of Tru2 organic gin. "Es- sentially, we do what bourbon makers do," says Melkon Khosrovian of pro- ducer Modern Spirits, "which is to mac- erate base spirits with complex, whole ingredients—wood for them and juni- per, coriander, etc. for us—put the final product through a polishing filter to get rid of ingredient debris and bottle it. We believe that our unorthodox meth- ods result in a full-flavored gin that lets you taste the complex botanicals in a more mellow, less sharply concentrated state. The amber color of our gin is the true color of the 14 whole ingredients that went into making it." Indeed, some gins are hearty enough for food pairings. At the Brooklyn Kitchen Labs in New York, Bombay Sapphire's master mixologist James Moreland has paired the world's fastest- growing premium gin, a Bacardi-owned brand, in cocktails geared towards blueberry pie, chicken liver mousse and (my favourite) a pickled Martini using a splash of vermouth and the tang of McClure's spicy pickles for garnish; Sapphire's fruit and floral steam infu- sions mellow the peppery pickle juice, but still leave a tingle on the tongue. Indeed, now more than ever, gin is in. Besides, in these turbulent times, there is something reassuring about a drink you can see through. Chai Rojana, General Manager of Trader Vic's in Beverly Hills, reveals one of the key ingredi- ents of the restaurant's Samoan Fog Cutter; besides, rum, brandy, sherry, orange juice and orgeat, this potent drink takes a healthy pour of Beefeater gin. Some gins, such as Martin Miller's SFWSC Gold Medal winner and the equally elusive North Shore Distiller's Gin No. 6, are meaty enough for cigars. january–february 2010 / the tasting panel / 67