By
George Brozowski
In
one of her films
Mae West is credited for saying, "Too much of a good
thing can be wonderful", I cautiously agree. I recently
received a bottle of Bombay Sapphire East Gin,
the latest addition to the Bombay line of gins in the past
25 years (what took you guys so long?) and noticed that the
ingredients have gone up to 12 botanicals. 12 botanicals,
you have got to be kidding me that just might be too much
of a good thing!
Of
course the main botanical in any gin is juniper berries and
that's what gives it that signature "ginny" taste.
The other ingredients in this infusion or I might conclude
confusion of botanicals should give it more depth and complexity.
That being true, this should be one deep and complex gin.
Bombay
Sapphire East Gin contains; juniper berries from
Italy, grains of paradise from West Africa, lemon peel from
Spain, cubeb berries from Java, coriander seeds from Morocco,
cassia bark from Indo China, anjelica root from Saxony, almonds
from Spain, iris root from Italy, liquorice from China and
then to give it that "East" touch they added lemongrass
from Thailand and black peppercorns from Vietnam. Honestly
now I have no idea what cubeb or grains of paradise or cassia
bark even taste like alone. Do you?
Most
gin producers will steep or macerate their botanicals in the
neutral spirit before distilling. Instead Bombay uses a perforated
copper botanical basket hung in the still through which the
vapors from the distilling neutral spirit must pass through
during the distillation process. That's quite an intriguing
procedure.
Well
let's get to it; I can't wait to see what this is all about.
Right in the bottle the aroma is juniper berry forward and
bold followed by lemon, liqourice and almonds and that's quite
a noseful and yet it is beautifully balanced and very appealing.
In the snifter the juniper recedes and gives way to the lemon,
liquorice and pepper.
On
the palate the pepper and liquorice take the lead followed
by the juniper and lemon. I can actually discern the two types
of lemon, both the peel and the grass. It is quite noticeably
spicy and peppery and leaves a definite tingle on the tongue
and in the mouth. I rather like this merry go round of tastes
exchanging places as they dance their dance.
The
finish is surprisingly smooth considering all the pepper and
spice that preceded my actually swallowing some.
In
a Gin and Tonic all these flavors finally settle down and
play nice with each other. Juniper berries come forward again
and the lemons become complimentary rather than acutely citrusy.
The pepper falls to the background and calms down nicely.
All the other flavors finally surrender the depth and complexity
I was expecting that I could not perceive when I tasted it
straight up because four dominating flavors competed against
each other for the lead. I think I might like to be able to
discern more of these ingredients individually but they do
seem to blend well together.
This is definitely not your granddaddies Gin but it could
be yours if you're into bold flavor, spiciness and a citrus
zing. It is 84 proof and 750 ml to 1 liter bottles can be
purchased for between $22-$35.
Other
Related Links:
Bombay
Sapphire Cocktails for the Springtime Sunshine
Bombay
Sapphire Cocktails for Summer
Negroni
Week Sips
Unique
Takes on the Martini from Bombay Sapphire Gin
Bombay
Sapphire: Artfully Crafted Cocktails
For
more Rants & Raves click
here.
www.bombaysapphire.com
