WV Gourmet

The editorial staff at WV Gourmet are all fans of the greatest spirit in the known universe, gin.  You may have noticed that the folks at Rogue (famous for  their beers) have gotten into the liquor game and said liquors are now available at some of the finer establishments in Charleston.*  You may have also noticed that they offer no less than two gins – their “Spruce Gin” and their “Pink Spruce Gin”.  I saw these and was immediately intrigued.  I was also taken aback by the $30+ price tag.  After some deliberation, I bought both, on two separate occasions, and have now run each through the ringer as a martini and as a gin and tonic.  

Rogue Gins on display at the liquor store on Patrick Street

The Spruce Gin tastes just like a gin should – lots of pine up front, with some citrus and other interesting flavors (cucumber was one) from the botanicals in the finish.  It is also a real gin, weighing in at a nice 94 proof.** 

The Pink Gin is the same gin, but it was aged in pinot noir barrels for a few months.  Rogue comes from Oregon, and Oregon is Pinot country, so this makes sense to me.  Aside from giving it a pink hue, the barrel aging also imparts a softness to the gin.  It still has the gin attributes, but the have been a bit subdued and are a bit more gentle here than in the regular gin.  The martini was good, but this stuff really shined with the tonic.  Also, due to the pinkish hue, people may think you’re drinking a cosmopolitan if you’ve got it served in a martini glass, and you really wouldn’t want that. 

*Actually, the only place I’ve seen them is at the liquor street on Patrick Street.

** While gins that are under 90 proof can be quite good, they aren’t quite the same as their 90+ proof bretheren.

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.