Beefeater 24 Gin Arrives for Review

Today was a good day at the Liquor Snob offices, as shown by the fact the FedEx guy showed up with a bottle of Beefeater 24 gin. We've heard many a good thing about this spirit, with its 24 hour marriage of gin and various exotic teas. It also boasts multiple citruses, licorice, and your standard juniper, but we're focused on the tea, something we've never had before. Seems to work well, at least according to these reviews we found. We'll add our tasting notes to the mix as soon as we can.

Oh Gosh!

A Dash of Bitters

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About Cocktails

Juliet & Romeo Cocktail Recipe

We're on a bit of a gin kick right now, and we recently got an email from a good friend highly recommending the following drink recipe he found at Chicago's Violet Hour. It's an amazing mixture of some great ingredients, but of course, you don't have to take our word for it - GQ rated it as one of the Top 20 Cocktails in America.

If you can't make it to Chicago to check it out, try whipping one up for yourself - think gin, lime, mint, rose water, and cucumber...a perfect mix for a steamy day. Our advice if you mix it yourself? Use a delicate hand with your muddler or you could make it too bitter.

Recipe after the jump.

Continue reading: "Juliet & Romeo Cocktail Recipe"

Bols Genever & Martin Miller's Gin Arrive

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Gin Town. That's what we're calling the Liquor Snob offices these days, now that we've received packages containing both Bols Genever and Martin Miller gins. They're two very different spirits, and we're equally looking forward to trying them both out.

Bols Genever
Sweeter and more aromatic than your typical London Dry, Genever is a very different taste and experience than most gins you've probably had. Bols Genever is an award-winning expression of the type, and could even entice non-gin drinkers into the botanical fold.

Bols Genever

Martin Miller's Gin
Looking for a sophisticated spirit at a price that won't break the bank? We've heard extremely good things about Miller's Gin, and you can bet we'll be stirring up some martinis as soon as we get a chance. If you're looking for a London Dry, rumor has it you can't do much better than this one - especially if you're looking to impress your friends with something a bit different.

Martin Miller's London Dry Gin

Square One Botanical

For those of you familiar with Square One Organic Vodka (and those who aren't, of course), the company just released a new organic spirit called Square One Botanical. According to the website, it's a "bold organic rye spirit, infused with a striking blend of 8 organic botanicals - pear, rose, chamomile, lemon verbena, lavender, rosemary, coriander and citrus peel." Sounds like a nice new organic gin to us, but they never actually use the term, so we guess we won't.

We're very much intrigued by the mix of botanicals in there, and we like the feeling of drinking organic booze, so we're sure we'll pick up a bottle ASAP.

More at Square One Vodka

Tub Gin: Not From a Bathtub (Anymore)

Legend has it that Tub Gin started out being made in a bath tub. Legend continues that said bath tub was shot by Tub Gin's creators, which was tragic (though they were able to save the gin). The moral? Drink and shoot responsibly.

On a slightly different note, Tub Gin clocks in at almost $35 a bottle, and rumor has it it's a good bit smoother than its rough and tumble backstory. Decide for yourself, and visit TubGin.com.

[via Uncrate]

Beefeater Gin Arrives for Review

It's been a while since we've delved into a bottle of Beefeater Gin, but we remember it as a smooth and drinkable addition to a gin & tonic or a martini. We'll let you know what we think of this bottle sitting in our sweaty little palms as soon as we can do a full review, but we can tell you one thing from just unscrewing the cap and taking a whiff - there's a reason this stuff sits on the shelf of almost every bar. At a resounding 94 proof it'll give you plenty of bang for your buck, but it's a good dry gin full of herbs and smoothness. We'll give you our full thoughts soon enough, but for now, head on over to Beefeater Gin for more info.

Sloe Gin Fizz

We've got a friend who's getting into the Sloe Gin Fizz of late, and sent an envoy to us asking if we knew any good recipes. Truth be told, we didn't, because while we've heard of this particular cocktail we've never sought it out. However, being the liquor nerds we are, we were able to dig through our many cocktail recipe books and come up with a few recipes that might fit the bill. We also found a recipe for something called a "Sloe Comfortable Screw," that we had to include just because it had an awesome name.

Find the recipes (and their sources) after the jump.

Update: We just found an article on Esquire that hints the reason for sloe gin's decline in the States - we don't have access to the real stuff, just artificially-flavored knockoffs that don't do the drink justice. Has anyone found a truly good sloe gin out there to combat this claim? Anyway, maybe that's why, as reader Megan puts it in the comments, "old people like sloe gin." It's because they've had the good stuff we don't have access to, and know what the drink can really aspire to.

Continue reading: "Sloe Gin Fizz"

Brave Spirits: In Remembrance or Celebration

We're not usually ones for waxing patriotic, but not too long ago, the 44th president of the US was sworn in to much pomp and circumstance. He made a great speech, and we can't think of any way to celebrate that moment better than acknowledging the men and women who spend their lives protecting the nation and its citizens. That's why we're telling you about Brave Spirits line of liquors, made up of Valor Vodka, First In Whiskey, Standing Guard Gin, and At Ease Rum.

Brave Spirits is for Soldiers. Marines. Sailors. Airmen. Police officers. Fire fighters. You come to the rescue. You protect. You defend American freedom. You are America's bravest.

We honor you by celebrating your bravery and dedication with something to truly call your own.

For every bottle sold, Brave Spirits donates $2 toward charities that support the men and women of America's military, fire departments and police departments.

So far, they've donated $19K, and here's to more.

Brave Spirits are distributed in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland and Washington DC, as well as on select Army and Air Force bases. They are are also available nationwide from several online merchants. More at Brave Spirits

Guest Review: Bluecoat Gin

We haven't had too many guest reviews lately (hell, we haven't had many in-house reviews lately, but that'll change soon). Our man Kevin from over at The Scotch Blog has put together a nice little piece on Bluecoat Gin, a spirit we've heard a lot about but never had a chance to try. We're being the bigger men by not being jealous he got a bottle of the stuff...especially after his review. Check it out after the jump.

Continue reading: "Guest Review: Bluecoat Gin"

Death's Door Spirits Gin and Vodka - Go Into the Light

Looking to see a little further with your natural spirits than the world around you? A small company out of Wisconsin - Death's Door Spirits can help you see further. This company has created two products, a vodka and gin. Death's Door Spirits prides itself in supporting local agriculture and sustainability. Death's Door Vodka uses only organic wheat grown on Washington Island in Door County, Wisconsin. And the juniper berries for the gin are picked wild on Washington Island. Death's Door Spirits actively participates and supports local farmers and agriculture. Death's Door is company worth noting in the growing field of sustainability. The website provides info on infusions, recipes, cooking with spirits, and locations of where to purchase the product. Enjoy!

At Deaths' Door Spirits

VodkaFest (with Gin) Roundup - June '07

We hit the June VodkaFest this Sunday down in Manhattan, and it was great to hobnob (is that a word?) with some of the elite of independent spirits distributors. We had some drinks, had some laughs, but overall had to take it easy because after the event we had to drive four hours home. We were still able to taste just about everything that was on display, however - and we hope we didn't gross anyone out too much when we sipped and then spit it right back into the cup.

We've rounded up info on everyone we interacted with, along with some quick notes on the folks we haven't done full reviews on yet. Read on for our thoughts on each brand and our tastes of each, in more-or-less chronological order.

Also - we didn't run into any of the VodkaFest contest winners, probably because we skinned out a bit early, but we'd love to hear from you if you made it. You know who you are.

Continue reading: "VodkaFest (with Gin) Roundup - June '07"

Discount Code for VodkaFest (With Gin)

We told you last week about the VodkaFest (With Gin) that's happening in NYC this Sunday, and while our supply of free tickets has gone away we still want to see you there.

The organizers of the event have graciously offered Liquor Snob readers a $10 discount on the tickets - just register online and include the code "SNOB." Don't say we never did anything for ya.

Polished Palate - VodkaFest (With Gin)

Whitley Neill Gin Review

A man more clever than us recently noted that if people keep monkeying around with vodka and adding more and more flavors, pretty soon they'll invent gin. That might not be such a bad thing - gin was a popular libation among drunkards for a lot of years, but with in recent years vodka has slipped in and taken hold of a lot of its market niche. Some folks have decided they want some additional complexity in their flavored white spirit, and they're doing some very interesting things with gin.

Not the least of these is Whitley Neill, a gin "inspired by Africa, made in England." With nine different botanicals in it, it's not designed to club you over the head with juniper as some gins have been known to do. Plus, it contains fruit from the Baobab tree - how can you go wrong with something distilled from the "Tree of Life?"

Read on for the full review.

Continue reading: "Whitley Neill Gin Review"

Free Tickets to VodkaFest (With Gin)

We have recently gotten our hands on a whole passel of free tickets to VodkaFest with Gin in NYC in June, and instead of scalping them on the streetcorner we're going to pass those savings on to you, our beloved readers. These VIP tickets are usually $60 each at the door, and we're giving them away in pairs to the first folks who email us at news [at] liquorsnob.com.

Update: The free tix to VodkaFest were snapped up almost as quickly as we posted them. Guess that's what we call a "snooze you lose" situation, but we'll let you know if there's anything else we can do for you.

Whether you get free tickets or not, don't miss out on your chance to hob nob with vodka and gin luminaries from the world over (including our man Dave at Orange V), plus hang out with our Editor in Chief, who will be attending the event. The 'Fest is in a couple weekends (Sunday, June 10), and should be a great time. Check out the link below for more details, or email us if you need anything else.

The Polished Palate - VodkaFest (with Gin)