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I thought this gin had some nice cinnamon notes on the palate. Not as pie spice like as the Back River gin, just more of a pure cinnamon flavor that came through. I felt this was a very well balanced gin imho. Definitely something I'd like to be able to offer in OR.
Thanks for your comments, Lance. I do hope everyone will share their impressions and thoughts on the gin - we're anxious to know what you thought of it.
Just as background, we use ten different botanicals for the No. 6, including juniper, fresh lemon peel, cardamom, cinnamon (Ceylon, or true cinnamon), coriander, anise seed, and lavender, among others. The cinnamon and cardamom tend to hang out together on the palate - we typically get the juniper first, but it backs off so you can taste a variety of other flavors, including the citrus and spice. Ideally, you taste the floral element on the finish, and are left with a long finish of herbs. The lavender also has a role in the aromatics of the gin, of course.
Our goal was to create a gin that really isn't like other gins - balanced and smooth, but also very complex and flavorful. Its definitely not a traditional gin in the Beefeater or Bombay Regular style, but that's not what we were trying to create (No. 11 is more in the vein, but still not quite that style either).
I did feel like the #6 was more similar in character to other American artisan gins (Aviation, Back River) than more traditional English gins. I thought the #6 was really flavorful, and while the cinnamon was a top note for me, it was in balance with the other botanicals.
I really like the North Shore #6, even though it isn't a traditionally flavored gin.
A lot of gin manufacturers tell you, "Oh we intended this as a sipping gin," and most of the time I find their straight gins a bit rough for casual sipping.
At least for me, there is often too much of the ethanol nose and they are just rough on the throat.
The North Shore #6 was one of the first I've tried where I actually thought it well enough distilled to be enjoyable as a sipping spirit at room temp.
And as someone who mixes the odd cocktail, I found the flavor interesting and inspiring. Where traditional gins are often combined with sharper fruit flavors like citrus, it seemed like the #6 would go really well with softer flavors like stone fruit and berries. And yeah, I can say from personal experience, it's especially good with apricot.
~Erik
Sonja,
Let us know when you are ready to tackle distribution into a control state. We'd love to be the first.
Erik,
I can definitely see the cinnamon notes in this playing exceptionally well with stone fruit. I wish it was peach season, the things I could mix :)
I acquired a bottle of this and it made an EXCELLENT Pegu.
Has anyone seen it for sale in-State?
(I'm not finding it listed on the OLCC chart)
Not sure which chart you looked at, but my understanding is that http://www.olcc.state.or.us/pdfs/currentproductlist.xls is supposed to be the complete stock, including residual special orders in stores. I believe the 'Monthly' list is only what is at the warehouse. To find out which store still has a non-warehouse item requires an email to OLCC. They keep assuring me that they are working on a web 'product finder' similar to Washington State's (and probably just as accurate ;-)) to solve this missing link.
North Shore is not on that list, so you probably won't be able to get a bottle from OLCC w/o a case order. I bet somebody is pouring it somewhere in town, though.
Hi all, we're not set up with Oregon, so you won't find us on the OLCC list. I'll inquire as to what it might take to be a special order product there - we've just done the paperwork to be a special order in WA, so it's probably similar. We appreciate the interest, and were very sorry to miss the festivities last month.
Cheers.
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