The Liquid Muse

Clarifications from Yesterday's B.A.R. Gin Tasting

I mentioned in my post that someone on our panel referred to Martin Miller's gin as 'the cartoon version of Hendrick's' ... or something along those lines. Since that obviously hit a nerve with the MM marketing people, I'd like to put that comment into context...

When doing blind tastings, as we were yesterday, we are going off of the vegetal, herbacious, floral, spicy, earthy (etc.) notes we are getting from first smelling, then tasting a spirit. After tasting about 8 gins, we were asked to guess which brands we thought were which.

Given the strong cucumber, rose and similar notes which most of us associated with Hendrick's gin, many of us guessed that was what that particular one is. As it turns out, it was Martin Miller's. Some of us - like me - were surprised at how cucumber-y MM is. And, one of our instructors made a comment about how much more exaggerated the cucumber notes in Martin Miller's is.

I asked that instructor, today, what he meant by his comment, and he insisted that it was not meant to be an insult but rather the first thing that sprung to his mind describing its taste. It was not premeditated or a slam on the product.

So, let's get back to our regularly scheduled program. No one meant any harm. This blog is where I report things I see, taste, hear and experience. I don't apologize for reporting that back without edits. I also ask that you don't shoot the messenger...