Gale Force Gin

Flavor Profile

Gale Force Gin is Triple Eight Distillery’s flagship gin. distilled on a copper pot still.

Triple Eight Distillery began when Dean and Melissa Long— Vintners turned brewers— also turned to distilling. In 1997, Triple Eight became one of the first small scale distilleries in the region.

Gale Force Gin  was launched in 2005

Tasting Notes

The nose of Gale Force Gin a gentle juniper with hints of coriander and other spices. It smells clean but somewhat refreshing. The taste is where you really begin to appreciate the full depth of this gin.

When sipped straight it fills your mouth with warmth immediately, but its not sharp. Though the scent and the warmth are clear juniper, the taste is refreshingly citrus and acutely black pepper. A little bit of lemon and orange expand to fill the mouth and round out the feel of the gin. Though juniper fades into the background here, it is a well balanced gin. The earthy base isn’t very strong, but the classic London Dry feel is present, so I suspect a combination of Coriander and Angelica.

The finish is peppery and smooth, reminding me a bit of the closing notes of Bombay Sapphire East.

Cocktails

Gale Force is a pleasure to mix, although not juniper forward, it holds itself and doesn’t get diluted easily. The high proof and the juniper/citrus notes stand up well in a cocktail. It comes through beautifully in a Gin and Tonic.

I experimented with Gale Force Gin in a couple of less common gin cocktails such as the Twentieth Century and thought that worked well even with unconventional flavors such as chocolate from the creme de cacao in that cocktail. But here’s one drink where I think that Gale Force might have shown best: The Negroni.

Overall, Gale Force Gin

Overall this is a gin that I enjoyed quite a bit. Its a gin that mixes like a pro and holds up in every standard gin cocktail. The only negative that I can see that someone who really likes classic style gin may mention is that Gale Force isn’t juniper forward enough for them.