Name: Hendrick’s Gin
Color: Clear
Nose: Juniper, cucumber, flowers
Taste: Juniper, cucumber, rose flowers, fresh tasting finish
Hendrick’s Gin is known as the “Cucumber Gin” and is manufactured by William Grant & Sons at the Girvan Distillery in Scotland. It was released in 1999 and is bottled at 44% abv. The are 11 botanicals in the gin; chamomile, elderflower, juniper, lemon peel, orange peel, caraway, coriander, cubeb berries, angelica root, yarrow root, and orris root. After the gin is distilled it is then infused with rose and cucumber. The taste is very different than the usual suspects like Bombay or Tanqueray.
I have only enjoyed this gin in two ways. In a martini or with tonic water. Below are my thoughts base on the photo in the review.
- Regular Tonic: Clean and smooth tasting. Lighter than cheaper tonics.
- Cucumber Tonic: Fresh tasting with medium strong cucumber flavors. Lighter than the regular tonic water.
- Hendricks & Tonic w/ lime wedge: Gross. Lime does not mix well with the gin flavors.
- Hendricks & Regular Tonic w/ cucumber slice: Fresh and clean nose, very light and summery. The quinine seems to overpower the finish. Tastes good.
- Hendricks & Cucumber Tonic w/ cucumber slice: Very cucumber nose and taste. Not much quinine taste, little too syrupy for me but not bad. Tastes good, but very strong cucumber taste.
- Martini Up w/ cucumber slice: Light and refreshing with clean cucumber taste. Easy to drink but comes off as a one and done cocktail. Not a repeat drink like a Bombay Sapphire.
Other expressions: Obrium, Midsummer Solstice, Absinthe, Amazonia, Lunar, and Neptunia.
Priced around $50 and worth the money if you like the cucumber taste or to experiment in summer cocktails.
If you like it, drink it! – Christopher
If you like it, drink it!
