Flavor Profile
Where are we today?
In Albania, in the hills of an 8,000 hectare national park. The region we’re in is named for the Valbona River, one of the cleanest rivers in the country and the river whose meandering path over millennia has carved out the said valley. It looks rather beautiful from the travel website [Albania’s new frontier!]. Quaint, green mountains, cute little cottages and vibrant rivers. But we’re not there for this, we’re there for the juniper today.
Tasting Notes
A little quiet at first, building sharply. Almost sweet though, warm dark cherry. Rich, but bracing and still somewhat sharp. Clean long lasting juniper flavor hanging on the edge of the palette. Somewhat sour and bitter, but still clearly juniper. As a juniper forward gin, this actually kind of works. I could see it mixing nicely, though outside of a martini the really interesting notes from the juniper will be a bit lost.
This is the companion review to the Origin: Albania with botanicals ([icon name=”star” class=””][icon name=”star” class=””][icon name=”star” class=””])
Vitals
Price: £34.95 / 700 mL
Origin: United Kingdom
Juniper Terroir: Valbonë, Albania
Best consumed: Sipped neat to first appreciate the flavor of the juniper. I could easily recommend a martini with this gin, and think the second one with botanicals would actually make for a rather good Gin and Tonic.
Availability: Master of Malt online.
Website:http://www.masterofmalt.com
Rating: Both are quite good, I prefer the straight up juniper version of this one due to the rich character of the juniper involved. I’d easily choose this provenance of juniper as the base of a gin I was distilling. [Rating:3.5/5]
Good afternoon,
I am impressed by your Origin reviews; everything else might be considered common knowledge (although a very improved one), as the complex flavors take one to comparable results, but this is where your talent flourished – an original research without any reference. I can’t tell you what to do with your money, but I would appreciate if you would finish this project (you only reached its half). Also, for more accessibility I would like to see the reviews in a chronological order, if not on the front page (like you once had and possibly changed your mind about it), at least as a supplemental criteria when you gather all 600 reviews. Finally, you seem not only an enthusiast, but also a promoter, and the idea is good, because you will drink less and in a more beneficial way a quantity of plant-infused spirit, making the drinking an elevated act. Unfortunately, people are poor even in the rich countries and most of the consume will be oriented towards the lower end. That’s why please don’t forget them in your reviews (you have some, but with the same status as the most expensive) and also the tonic waters (who also used to be systematized in the previous versions of the site). Otherwise, excellent job!