New Amsterdam Gin
Spotted this at Spirits, Etc. out on Route 60 near Barboursville. It’s a new-ish gin from the Gallo winemaking behemoth, and it’s very cheap: about $14 for a 750ml bottle. Seeing as Spirits seems to have stopped carrying my favorite gin (Boodles, if you’re interested) I snagged a bottle.
Impressions, on pouring my preferred gin sundowner (a dry martini, natch) are that New Amsterdam piles on the orangy citrus notes, to say the least. It’s very smooth on the palate, and has a really tight clean finish — none of the harshness that often comes with distilled drinks at this end of the market. All that citrus makes it a real eyebrow-raiser — it almost overwhelms the underlying gin character with it. Not that this is a bad thing, necessarily, but it doesn’t make the kind of martini I’m looking for.
However, if you’re going to drink it with tonic, or branch out into more complex drinks, it’s a definite recommendation: it’s very smooth, well made, and a great choice in its price range.
