Romeo’s Gin

Flavor Profile

Through a partnership with local Montreal artists, each edition of Romeo’s Gin will feature art from a different artist. If each edition seems “fresh” visually, that’s perhaps by intention. Founder Nicolas Duvernois, also founder of the award winning Pur Gin told The Montrealer ” ‘fresh’ was a keyword that I used to describe what I wanted for our gin.” [source]

Tasting Notes

The nose is really unusual with a strong fruit-forward presence. The aroma of kiwis and honeydew jump from the glass. Top notes aside, there’s a pleasant pine-forward juniper, coriander and citrus rind note that ties the nose together.

Romeo’s gin is complex aromatically, with a comfortable tension between the floral ambitious side and the traditional undertone.

The first thing to note and appreciate is that Romeo’s Gin has an impressive and smooth texture. Silky soft at first sip, it whispers botanically before dialing up both the heat and the botanicals.

Cucumber is the leading botanical here. Juniper and a hint of background spice offer contrast. The cucumber is impressively fresh and well presented. It reminds me of a glass of water garnished with a singular circle of cucumber.

Pine becomes more prevalent mid-palate. Romeo’s Gin evolves towards a slightly citrus tinged finish. Lemon rind and lemon pith, green herbs and a touch of pepper round out the palate.

The finish of Romeo’s Gin is warm, clean and quite long. I find that it evolves as the warmth dissipates. First you get a bit of dill/lemon verbena; then some lemon/vanilla frosting, suggestive of iced lemon cake, and finally a gentle note of white cake. Although these notes sound very contemporary, each is quite restrained and subtle in Romeo’s Gin.

Cocktails

Romeo’s Gin is one of those gins that has a lot of intriguing complexity on both the nose and palate. It works exceptionally well in a Martini or Alaska Cocktail. The bitterness is the ideal complement.

Furthermore though, I find that iced or chilled; served tall— Romeo’s Gin shows more of it’s citrus side. Lemon notes come out in the Gin and Tonic which still has a good deal of juniper on the back.

Overall

The most contemporary note of Romeo’s Gin is the first one. But once you get past the kiwi/fruit notes on the nose, Romeo is quite a balanced gin— maybe even Transatlantic, or on the border between contemporary and classic.

That being said, fans of classic gins will not be asking “where’s the juniper,” but the presentation is more designed to appeal to fans of contemporary style gins.

I’m impressed by the depth of flavor packed into Romeo’s Gin. And cucumber is such a difficult note to do well. It’s freshness and brightness does suggest to me that it may be added after distillation (this is a hunch), however, I’d find it easy to recommend Romeo’s Gin to fans of Martin Miller’s Gin and Hendrick’s.

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.

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