Flavor Profile
The Tenn South Distillery, creators of Abernathy Gin, hails from the town Lynnville* (pop. 287 as of 2010). The town motto is “striving to be the best small town in America.” Within that tradition, Tenn South Distillery harvests local Giles County white corn and does everything on site in their distillery. All of their spirits are “grain-to-glass,” and are distilled in their Vendome Copper Pot still. The gin is vapor infused with a blend of nine botanicals and is designed from the ground up to be a contemporary styled gin with Southern touches such as the addition of Pecan.
Tasting Notes
The nose comes on immediately, with dry, toasted coriander seed, faintly nutty background notes [the pecan coming through, no?]. Not a ton of juniper. Certainly contemporary styled. The nose is dry, but not dry in the way that you might normally think of when you hear that word associated with gin. Although a touch citrusy, the coriander leads the day in terms of the aroma.
The palate of Abernathy Gin leads with a floral/fruity character, with a strong linalool aroma. In other words, lots of coriander, lemon/orange peels segue into a lemony raspberry sweetness on the late-mid palate. There’s a brief herbaceous flash of juniper, but the finish is more about the taste of sweet, spiced nuts. The finish is loud for only a short period; but it is quite long if you pay attention to the subtle build and evolution of nutty, citrus laden notes and a refreshing warmth. There’s perceptible changes on the palate even 20 seconds out, giving it a lovely evolving personality.
Cocktails
The quintessential Gin and Tonic is a necessity. For this one though we chose Jack Rudy Cocktail Co.’s syrup to add some more spice to it. Floral jammy notes at first, and a spice laden mid-palate bursts forth with nutmeg, cinnamon, ginger. Refreshing, but perhaps a little too just spice-forward with Abernathy Gin taking the center stage.
Next we tried a Jam & Gin with our very own Kate’s Gin Jam recipe. Lemon and berries dominated at first, but underneath there were notes of orange rind, raspberry, and a hint of cinnamon.
How about a Negroni? Of course, I don’t say no to that sort of thing. Sweet Campari on the entry, toasted coriander shortly after, ghostly hints of juniper on the early finish. Gin seems a little lost. But if you dial it up to a 2:1:1 ratio, the gin adds a smart spiced sensibility. Even then, the Campari dominates, but it does Abernathy Gin more justice.
Finally, we indulged in the Martini. Coriander on the nose, with an herbaceous, herbal led bouquet early. More, coriander in the mids, but the finish bursts for with orange rind, juniper, and wormwood. A nice, slightly bitter finish adds a crisp dryness to the finish. It could have used a bit of citrus though, perhaps a twist of lemon just to brighten it up a bit. But overall, this was our favorite drink of the bunch.
Overall
Abernathy Gin is a well-rounded gin that has dominant contemporary characteristics. While juniper is present, the co-stars take charge. It’s an interesting American contemporary grain-to-glass gin well suited to existing fans of the style.
* Notice that the Tenn South Distillery is the top tourist attraction in the tiny town.
Dear Aaron,
Thank you for this, I hadn’t come across this Gin before so it was a very welcome post and I’ll be looking out for this liquor in the future. While I prefer a classic Gin I am not adverse to a contemporary one and this sounds exciting for it’s coriander forward profile – can’t wait to try it.
As a side point, coriander is rarely singled out as a signature botanical and, the fact this is by an American producer, is this an indicator of an American preference for coriander in their Gin (as you have postulated previously)?
Regards, David.
I visited Tenn South over Christmas 2021. I went for the whiskey but left with a bottle of gin. Makes a lovely martini with a twist of lemon. I’ll be buying another bottle soon.
I just stopped by to Lynnville for a visit and well worth it.
Full disclosure I like gin but prefer bourbon, and NOT a gin aficionado.
My wife’s go to is Sapphire & she says she can tell a difference.
I’ve been to maybe a dozen distilleries of all sizes, this is what you envision as a “craft distillery”.
Employee August walked me through, was knowledgeable AND not afraid to say if she didn’t know something.
Bottom line I REALLY like the gin – straight up so I assume it would make a great martini.
Even sipping neat, the botanicals didn’t overpower and I didn’t distinguish the corn base.
They also offer a gin aged in whiskey barrels, Make your own decision.
As a side trip off of I-65, it’s less than 10 miles from the exit ( unlike the Jack Daniels “scam’)
Do yourself a favor and go see them.
You can sample this gin in downtown Nashville, as well as tour the micro distillery there. I originally did the tour because I had heard great things about their vodka, but ended up leaving with 2 bottles of gin as well. It was incredibly smooth and delicious without any mixers. I definitely recommend doing the tasting if you are able.