Dry Fly Gin

Flavor Profile

Up north to Washington we go, to the Pacific Northwest. If you haven’t heard, it’s quite a hot bed for distilling. Enter Dry Fly Gin, from Spokane Washington. Their gin is made from all local ingredients, all the way up from the base through the botanicals.

question: Dry Fly Gin is made from all Washington Botanicals AND it’s from Washington, what quintessential Washingtonian export might you expect to find in Dry Fly Gin?

I’ll give you a hint. Last year the state had one of the largest crops in history and it made the national news when it was revealed that up to 1/4 of the crop might be left on trees from lack of people to pick the fruits.

answer: apples And you’d be correct if you suspected there might be some Apple in here. (In addition to mint, lavender, and hops.) Oh yeah, juniper and the usual suspects too. Intrigued? I know I am. Let’s get down to some drinking, shall we?

Tasting Notes

Wow, a tad malty on the nose with a distinct scent of stewed heavily spice apples. There’s some brightness to the spice, but it’s mostly not clear. Hints of juniper, angelica, and other baking spices. Nice, quite inviting. But definitely contemporary.

The taste is smooth and very drinkable just on its own. Dry Fly Gin goes down quite easy. Citrus, apples (!), and a hefty punch of lavender on the finish. You’re getting some juniper there too.

This is contemporary gin as you might expect it, with juniper in the background, dialed back to a supporting role. A nice refreshing bitterness and a lingering heat on the finish. Hoppy, but only in the slightest. Nice and rather unique.

Cocktails

If you thought the apple and contemporary flair wasn’t strong enough when sipped neat, it really comes out and becomes amplified in cocktails. The apples comes on stronger in a Gin and Tonic, but I find that the juniper comes out a bit more too.

This is a great mix for the more fruity set of cocktails. I love the way it works with jam and lemon juice, and also found it to be nice in an Aviation, even bringing out a more cherry like note. It stands up well with Cherry Heering and other bold flavor liqueurs, but not so much in a traditional gin sense. The apple and hops come out most brightly. Even in mixing, Dry Fly Gin is clearly very contemporary in approach.

Overall, Dry Fly Gin

Whether or not you like Dry Fly Gin will likely rest on solely whether or not you like a) apple in your drinks or b) contemporary styled gin. It’s far from a one note spirit, but the specific unique notes are so prominent that I think it might be hard to concentrate on the other facets if the apple isn’t quite doing it for you.