Flavor Profile
Breckenridge Distillery in a Breckenridge, Colorado based distillery perhaps best known for their line of award winning Colorado whiskeys. The founder claims it to be a perhaps “unfair advantage*” being able to use the local Breckenridge water for distilling/proofing. Many Colorado distillers and breweries lay claim to Rocky Mountain water as being among their keys to success.
Their Breckenridge Gin is self-described as a “Fragrant American style gin” created through a combination of botanical maceration and gin basket distillation. The base spirit is 100% neutral spirit distilled from grain. All of this is done on a custom built Vendome copper pot still.
Tasting Notes
Lovely juniper notes on the nose at first. Hints of traditional gin spice, albeit somewhat mild as far as gin noses go. Rather classic in character, with a slight amount of heat from the base spirit. It takes a moment for some of its character to open up— after a few moments I started to get notes of citrus from Breckenridge Gin.
The palate of Breckenridge Gin takes on a bit more contemporary and botanically complex character. Coriander and a hint of cardamom on the tip of the tongue ground the initial sensation in spice. Mid-palate there’s a bit of lemon zest, with a slightly creamy, floral tinged spice— hints of black pepper, hibiscus petal segues into a more traditional back-of-the-palate combination of juniper and coriander.
Breckenridge Gin has a moderately long finish with fair amount of heat and botanical character. Piney juniper and bitter orange notes pleasantly warm the back of the throat.
Cocktails
Breckenridge Gin I think makes an excellent Gin and Tonic. I paired it with some Q Tonic Water and found that it came through as a nicely balanced spice-forward contemporary style gin with a bit of juniper. Clean and very flavorful. I highly recommend.
The heat and warmth could make for a bit of bracing Martini; however, I think most importantly the flavor is there. It pairs well with olives, and might even make a good entry point for fans of Dirty Martinis looking to experiment with a new gin— or even an alternative to vodka. I find that the spice notes seem to suggest a more complex melange of herbs, with hints of the spice blend you might adorn olives with at a bar for example.
Overall
Whether it’s the water or the botanical blend— Breckenridge Gin is nicely balanced, with a warm unctuous mouthfeel. Contemporary-styled certainly, Breckenridge still has a nice blend of juniper and traditional gin notes to appeal to wide range of palates and gin sensibilities.
*I mean, it’s totally tongue and cheek as far as it being unfair. But Gins like Tanqueray and Booth’s were touting their Clerekenwell water sources in the 18th/19th century as part of the reason for their success— though before modern sanitation hit London, they might have had a point.
Awards
“Tongue in cheek.”