Flavor Profile
Edinburgh Distillery’s Lemon and Jasmine Gin is inspired by Sicily. It uses both botanicals and natural flavors to achieve its signature botanical flavor before being bottled at 40% ABV.
Tasting notes
Color: Clear
Aroma: Powdery and floral, with distinctive notes of elderflower— it reminds me a touch of their gooseberry gin. It doesn’t have a ton of distinctive jasmine aroma. Otherwise, there’s hints of lemon and juniper around the central floral note.
Flavor: Early elderflower and a touch of sweetness ease into some lemon oil and lemon leaf. Mid-palate some green juniper begins to emerge from the background with some other green, leafy character. The flavor unfolds with more notes that I’d think were elderflowers (if not for the label) and some bitter green citrus.
I’m just not getting a lot of those unctuous jasmonic notes. Often jasmine is honeyed, heady, rich, and slightly musky. Sadly that is not present. Instead, you merely have some of the powdery florals.
Still it is incredibly floral— however, maybe not exactly in the way you’d expect.
Finish: Long with a surprising amount of bitterness. Largely lemon pith, elderflower and a touch of coriander.
Cocktails and suggested serves
Edinburgh Lemon and Jasmine Gin is ideal for mixed drinks— try it in a gin and soda or gin and lemonade. It’s merely alright in a gin and tonic because the gin itself brings some bitterness to the picture already.
Cocktail wise, it has some potential, especially if drinks are built around it. Try it with fresh citrus in a Tom Collins and avoid intensely bitter ingredients.
Overall, Edinburgh Lemon and Jasmine Gin
If you’re not going to nitpick about which floral flavors you’re getting, Edinburgh Lemon and Jasmine Gin is successful at marrying florals with lemon and some base gin flavor.
However, there’s a couple of opportunities for improvement. I wish I was getting more of that beautiful jasmine flavor and less of the bitterness present on the finish. Secondly, while a good floral gin is always welcome, in this case it pushes some of Edinburgh Gin’s coriander and juniper too far away.
It’s a tough mixing gin with some flaws that keep it from delivering both as a gin overall and as the flavored gin it says on the label. If you’re looking for a floral-leaning gin from Edinburgh Gin, I suggest their Gooseberry and Elderflower.