Today we examined the History of Gin by taking a look at where gin came from before and after Holland. The history of gin, like many spirit histories, involves both the good, the bad and the ugly. From the world of Genever through Old Tom gin all the way through to today’s London Dry gins and gin’s outside of London like Hendricks, we examine them from both general history and general taste.
Where does Genever land on the palate compared to later Old Tom or Hendrick’s and how do those compare to an american gin? In this History of Gin episode I think we’ve got some very definitive answers. Is there a wrong tasting gin? While we’re not huge fans of Tanqueray it does play its part in history. You may come to find out that the wide variety of historic gin brands all offer their own distinct flavor and finish from strong juniper to that of malts, oaks and citrus peel.
While today, we are smart enough to avoid the infamous “bathtub gin” experiments and laws and regulations exist to control both our habits and the industry, I don’t think anyone would argue that we’ve learned something from the rather tarnished past of gin and took those experiences and moved them forward to a very flavorful and gin-tastic future.
Thank you Curtis McMillan for doing the research and development and allowing us to have a little bit of the taste of historic gin.
Find Curtis on twitter @McMillanWhiskey.
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