We got an unparalleled opportunity at Perigee to sample side-by-side five different editions of the Berkshire Mountain Distillers small-batch Ethereal Gin series.
Five gins?! Are you mad?!
Not really. Five Martinis would have impaired the scientific capabilities of even the stoutest Pilgrim, but we didn't consume five whole cocktails, and I had help from my ever-loving lab assistant and fellow Pilgrim, Lorna.
Here's how we did it:
Tim the Bartender understood the mission from the start. He wrote out a slip of paper with 5 columns, each labeled with the label color and batch number if available. Then he poured into 5 clean shot glasses 3/4 oz of each gin. They were not shaken with ice; there were at room temperature and undiluted.
I also had a glass of icewater and a straw to use as a pipette. I find a few drops of water opens up many spirits nicely for a tasting session, but they do not all respond equally. As a rule of thumb, shaking with ice adds 15% water to a drink, so adding a couple of drops can mimic that without chilling it to the point where the flavor profile changes.
Here's what we learned:
Batch Pink Orange Green-Gold (4) * Purple (5) Blue (6) Neat warm flavor profile, like Old Raj or some pot-still gins citrusy in front, long after-taste herby, very complex, evoking green Chartreuse very strong, reminded us both of good grappa more than gin strong and very dry, complex, almost impenetrable 2 drops water opened up nicely, a sense of rose petals strongly orange-peel, as if Rangpur were orange instead of lime opened up nicely, very herby, a great sipping gin or in a Monkey Gland? opened up somewhat, a sense of violet petals and springtime still hard to get into 4 drops water started to get watery started to get watery started to get watery a little watery, but OK tastes like night-time, dark, licorice but not anise, not sweet mix with or use in nothing, soda, in an Aviation tonic, limey cocktails nothing, soda, tonic, maybe Campari maybe Maraschino needs more research. I think it needs to be chilled.
Batch 4 and Batch 6 get great (and different) write-ups at The Gin Is In blog.
These will all taste somewhat different when chilled, so you will want to experiment for yourself to see how you will enjoy your selected Ethereal Gin. I hope this gives some hints as to which ones you might enjoy.