Day Four – Louche Lemon Decadence Gin

Day Four – Louche Lemon Decadence Gin

Style: London Dry

ABV: 46%

Notable Botanicals: Juniper, Amalfi and Sorrento lemon peels

The Tasting Experience:

The spirit looks crystal clear, as you would expect with a gin. Swirling in the glass gives the same thing legs that I’ve seen with some of the previous gins. The gin also leaves behind oils that cling to the sides of the glass. I mentioned this with the previous gin in the calendar (the 7 Continents Gin). This is not surprising in the least, due to the That Boutique-y Gin Company describing this gin is, ‘jam-packed with essential oils.’ This would be the oils from the lemon peels mentioned above.

The smell of the gin is clean and juniper-forward. Not surprising, as this is meant to be a London Dry style. The lemon itself doesn’t jump right out with the aroma. It does smell ‘fresh,’ however you want to interpret that.

One the taste itself, the gin has a powerful lemon flavour. This reminds me of peeling lemons to order while making martinis. The fresh scent, some slight bitterness from the pith, and the delicious oils. The Juniper is almost taken over, but the spirit maintains a fair dryness. This is great for the less Juniper-obsessed drinkers out there. A citrus gin should strike that balance.

Now I want to talk about the louching. I threw a couple of cubes into my glass, and swirled it around a bit. The effect is minimal, with some cloudiness, but not enough to huge change. This isn’t a bad thing. It would certainly be noticeable with a martini (and this would be a great spirit to make a dry martini with). The result here is beyond visual. The aroma of the lemon oils intensify. The sweetness of the lemons also come to the forefront. This is a gin I would recommend for any spirit-forward cocktail: think martini, Vesper, Last Word, and definitely a Gin Old Fashioned.

What is louching?

This term is used primarily with absinthe, pastis, or other anise-flavoured spirits. When a spirit has water added to it, the spirit will change colour by going cloudy or milky. You can do the same thing by adding a couple cubes of ice. This is a popular way to traditionally serve pastis, in a tall glass with two cubes of ice. The reaction is usually instant. This visual/physical change happens when essential oils in a spirit (which are not water soluble) come in contact with water, and causes them to drop out of solution with the alcohol. The result of this chemical reaction also changes the flavour of spirits, as the oils become for accessible for tasting.