Flavor Profile
Ashuelot Gin is built upon the base spirit of New England Sweetwater Farm and Distillery’s Ahshuelot vodka— which is quite an experience combining a base of both potato and apple. The botanicals, including cinnamon and lemon are imparted to the vodka through vapor infusion, and the final spirit is triple filtered for clarity before diluted to bottling strength.
Tasting Notes
The nose has some anethole notes suggesting licorice and anise. Ashuelot Gin also has a bit of warm character suggesting a flavorful base spirit.
Aniseed notes hit the palate early, while the palate of Ashuelot Gin unfolds gradually. A subtle hint of juniper mid-palate and sweet lemon custard cream towards the finish. In the back of the throat Ashuelot Gin has a subtle but surprising creamy note with floral hints.
That last note reminds me a bit of lemon cream in powdered sugar doughnuts. The lemon is very sweet and very candy like. It’s a surprising finish to a gin that was herbal and spice-forward until that point.
Cocktails
With tonic water, Ashuelot Gin kind of crystallizes around two flavor impressions. The first note in the Gin and Tonic is the anise and licorice note. The final note is that lemon custard and cream note. Though in this case I thought the bitter finish of Canada Dry Tonic helped balanced it out.
Ashuelot holds to form in most cocktails. The anise notes up front are dominant and come through in every cocktail. The lemon on the finish is generally overpowered when mixed with bold and strongly bitter ingredients.
Overall, Ashuelot Gin
It seems to be a rather straight-forward herbal gin. Ashuelot Gin— to it’s testament— manages to start from a nice quality base that never detracts from the botanicals. It adds a nice texture and mouthfeel and stops there. I have to say, although I haven’t had it knowingly, I’m impressed by their vodka as in many case apple (and especially potato) can overpower and even sink a gin. That’s far from the case here.
Where Ashuelot Gin comes up a bit short for me is in the botanical blend. Juniper is mostly absent— while although not a problem in itself— there’s so much space mid-palate for some sort of character, or something to tie that finish together to the start. It tastes a bit unfinished.
So although Ahsuelot Gin starts from a solid base, it’s hard to say where it fits on the shelf. If you’re a fan of strong licorice notes, like Merrylegs Genever for example— you’ll probably enjoy this. If you prefer classic styles or are not a fan of anise/licorice, you’ll probably not find a lot here worth exploring further.
Made possible through the New England Gin Exchange
Special thanks to John at Foodie Pilgrim. Since 2012, John has shared and sourced gins from New England and nearby that we at The Gin is In haven’t tried yet. This gin sample was shared by John, who is also a big fan of gin. So check out his New England Gin Reviews as well.