GIN

[kuma]

And no I don't mean the card game.  Recently here on the east coast of the "good ole US of A" it has been rather

balmy (105 degrees) when heat index is factored in.  Anyway good chaps I was wondering what kind of drink would

go good with a light to medium cigar on  one of these hot evenings (still 80 degrees) at night.  Well reading through

that cigar mag. CA and they had a section on gin and mixed gin drinks.  Well I'm a pretty simple guy and

gin I thought would be ideal over ice.  But what to mix it with.  Well tonic was the answer with some lime.

What a great cool drink on a hot day/evening.  But I did not want some cheap ass gin that the local

"roll around in the gutter" bum in the hood would treat himself too.  Well I found a great gin in "BomBay Sapphire

London Dry, Infused gin".  Oh boy what a smooth gin to mix and drink.  Now I know that there are

other very good gins out there (Hendricks, Tangueray,  Beefeaters, .etc,etc,.....) so if anyone has a decent

gin they like to drink on a hot summers day / night please by all means spill the beans and let the cat out of

de bag!

[westg]

Plenty of terrific Gin around and it is the drink for hot weather ....not sure if you can pick up Four Pillars rare and dry in your neck of the woods, very good I find the Navy Strength very heavy in taste .....Blind Tiger not bad for an organic...and if you want fork out a few dollars Royal Society Goldy Locks , do it very nice gin indeed .

[Raginaharjar]

You have to try Moneky 47. The GIN of all GINs. Pour up with some ice, drink as it is or just a splash of tonic. Amazing gin.

[Jeremy Festa]

Four Pillars, Ink Gin, The Botanist, Gordon's. 

G&T's.

Martinis or Negronis.

 

 

[gweilgi]

If you can find it, Sipsmith is a very smooth gin. 

The No. 3 London Dry Gin is a classic, too.

My favourite, however, is the Botanist.  Distilled at the Bruichladdich distillery on Islay, those guys demonstrate that they can make magic not only with single malt but gin as well.  

My personal favourite way to drink any of them is as a Pink Gin: over ice, with a few drips of angostura bitters...

Oh, and don't forget to use quality tonic water!  There is some real cheap crap on the supermarket shelves that can really ruin a good gin -- my favourite here is Fever Tree.  Not cheap, but miles better than most others.

[westg]

1 hour ago, gweilgi said:

If you can find it, Sipsmith is a very smooth gin. 

The No. 3 London Dry Gin is a classic, too.

My favourite, however, is the Botanist.  Distilled at the Bruichladdich distillery on Islay, those guys demonstrate that they can make magic not only with single malt but gin as well.  

My personal favourite way to drink any of them is as a Pink Gin: over ice, with a few drips of angostura bitters...

Oh, and don't forget to use quality tonic water!  There is some real cheap crap on the supermarket shelves that can really ruin a good gin -- my favourite here is Fever Tree.  Not cheap, but miles better than most others.

So true in regard to tonic...must have quality tonic

[lafabrica]

 

bombay is good.  i enjoy that now on delta flights after they stopped serving glenlivet.

i was introduced to tanqueray rangpur a few years back and is great chilled.  they advertise the rangpur lime as giving it an extra something.  and its nicely priced - i usually have that bottle around.

you said that you're on the east coast like me, but there's an outfit called big gin by captive spirits.  i had that in seattle and was quite special.  if you can find it.... um let me know!

 

[cigaraholic]

Bombay Sapphire.......always good to start at the top!

[foursite12]

St. George, from-of all places-Alameda CA. Best gins I've ever tried.  They make 3 types. Try the "Botanivore" first. Fabulous with good tonic and also in a martini.

[hoyopr]

Fentiman's best tonic water I've tasted.

[GavLew79]

5 hours ago, cigaraholic said:

Bombay Sapphire.......always good to start at the top!

? Am I missing the ironic smiley? Bombay Sapphire is a mass produced low-mid priced Gin in the UK, on par with Gordon's, Plymouth, Beefeater and all the other mass market gins. It's £20 a litre. You can pay north of £50 quite easily. 

[gweilgi]

Actually, if you feel adventurous, you can make your own gin.  It's not hard.  What you need is a good clean spirit such as a decent vodka (Wyborova is a good choice), some juniper berries for the baseline flavour and then start experimenting with added herbals.  Stick your blend  of herbs and juniper into a muslin bag, pop it into the alcohol and let it steep for a couple of weeks.  Results may vary, of course, but it is quite fun to try and get the perfect custom blend...

[CaptainQuintero]

Bathtub Gin by Amplefroth really is stunning, even the packaging (brown waxed paper) is top class.

Bombay Sapphire is still a very nice gin, like mentioned above though it gets even more appealing when you can get a litre for £12 here. Bonus of it being made relatively local though.  I use it with 4 parts gin, one part lemonade and a bunch of ice. Perfect summer quaffing

Being in the middle of a gin revival in the UK is incredibly satisfying half the pubs near me have their own small batch operations the cellers.

Recently I tried one which had used Douglas fir, not great, tasted like Christmas tree vodka...

 

 

[anacostiakat]

I keep Brokers, Hendricks and Plymouth in stock.  Honestly do not drink gin often.  It is a nice change.  Especially in these 100 F degrees days here. 

[Sophistic]

Monkey 47, Plymouth, Martin Millers. Hate Bombay Sapphire, prefer Beefeater among the cheaper supermarket stuff.

[JohnS]

Bombay Sapphire, Tanquery Ten and Hendrick's are my staples. I've had some Old Tom Gin varieties lately too, including Hayden's and Settlers.

[ayepatz]

Got to give a shout out to Silent Pool. They started up a couple of years ago in Surrey, not far from where I live. It's a lovely, flavourful gin that still packs a punch. Wonderful with tonic and lime, even better in a Negroni. 

http://silentpooldistillers.com/silent-pool-gin/

[earthson]

A friend recently got me onto Hendrick's.  The additional hint of cucumber and rose is subtle, but a very good addition to a traditional gin recipe.

I still splash it with tonic water, but I use a LOT less TW than I used to with the Bombay Sapphire, which was my old staple before being entirely dethroned by the Hendricks.

Which ever you pick, be sure to mix yourself a couple gimlets - now those are refreshing!

[polarbear]

Got a fair bit of Gin Stashed away in the Cellar

My standouts are
Four Pillars Navy Strength
Four Pillars Original
Hobart No4
Monkey 47
The West Winds Sabre
Bulldog
Tanqueray Ten
The Retiring
The Botanist

 

In Aus, Bombay Saphire is on the probably a "top of the range" mid range gin with a 700ml bottle retailing for around $60
Lower range gins can be had here for around $30-$40 per 700ml (beefeater, gordons ect)

[Ken Gargett]

hendricks a fave.

the four pillars range - not just because the blokes behind it are great mates. anyone else try the bloody shiraz gin? so far out of left field. have more four pillars than just about all other gins combined.

tanqueray ten

just got a sample of a black truffle gin. keen to try that. they only made 100 bottles or thereabouts so i only have a small sample.

i have a bottle, well half a bottle now, of the original Bombay Gin, before the marketing gurus made it go Sapphire. better gin then. have actually just pulled it out for a good dirty M tonight.

[oljud]

Well i might be bias since i work part time for an gin distillery, but Hernö Navy Strenght  (Sorry, no distro in US yet)

Other great gins i prefer would be Sipsmith, Monkey 47, Hendricks or Four Pillars to name a few. For tonic i usually go for Fentimans or Fevertree.

 

//O

 

[Fugu]

Agree on the Botanist, a favourite here as well. Don't have much love for Hendrick's, can't really say why, the profile just isn't mine, too soft (soapy), too floral for me perhaps. I love a heavy juniper-laden gin, so somtimes a simple and cheap Gordon's will do just fine in a mix for me. And you'll never go wrong with the classic Tanqueray London Dry for a juniper shot.

My standard as a thirst quencher, however, is Tanqueray Ten mixed as a Tonic-spritzer, since a regular G and T is way too sweet for my liking for a refresher. Gin, ice and replace at least 50% of tonic for soda water - et voilà. Or even just gin on ice and soda, plain and unsweetened (that's my kind of isotonic sports drink... ). The No. 10 has a pronounced citrus character which I find perfect in that mix.

[gweilgi]

4 hours ago, Fugu said:

My standard as a thirst quencher, however, is Tanqueray Ten mixed as a Tonic-spritzer, since a regular G and T is way too sweet for my liking for a refresher. Gin, ice and replace at least 50% of tonic for soda water - et voilà. Or even just gin on ice and soda, plain and unsweetened (that's my kind of isotonic sports drink... ). The No. 10 has a pronounced citrus character which I find perfect in that mix.

If the regular G&T is too sweet, maybe you are adding too much tonic?

Seriously: try adding a few drops of angostura bitters.  That should cut the sweetness and add some bitter (duh) herbiness to the taste.

[Phinz]

I too have found gin to be perfect  hot weather, with greyhounds (salty dog without the salted rim) and G&Ts being my standard gin cocktails. For greyhounds (my recipe: fresh squeezed pink grapefruit juice and gin with some Peychuad's Bitters) I use Sapphire. For G&T, I use Hendrick's with seltzer water and Jack Rudy tonic syrup (for a pre-mixed tonic, Fever Tree is good, but the Jack Rudy stuff is my fav). 

I'll have to try some of the others suggested in this thread, thanks for the recommendations!

[5thStarChicago]

Boodles!  Fantastic London Dry and not pricey.  If you're in or near Chicago, Finn's Gin is one of the few newer small batch gins that I'm very impressed with.