Flavor Profile
Thuya noun
a North American and eastern Asian evergreen coniferous tree of a genus that includes the arbor vitaes.
In this case, Thuya refers to the young cedar shoots that give Thuya Gin its unique flavor. Harvested fresh from Saint-Arsène, Quebec, the pine shoots give this gin a touch of local flavor, no pun intended.
Distillery Fils Du Roy is the first distillery in the Acadia region and uses traditional pot stills to make all of their products, Thuya included.
Tasting Notes
Powerfully aromatic, Gin Thuya has lots of pine notes on the nose. Resinous pine, fir bough, and juniper. There’s a good amount of spice as well, with coriander rounding the nose out.
Thuya is pine forward on the palate at first. A hint of anise emerges and comes on with a heavy dose of licorice. It adds a surprising sweetness to it, suggestive of botanically sweetened Old Tom style gins.
The finish is long and smooth with the licorice bringing you back to the pine and juniper.
Very smooth and very clean finish. Lovely texture.
Cocktails
I personally think Thuya is at its best just sipped neat. Though the herbal complement of Vermouth makes a nice Martini as well.
Bartenders looking for a local Canadian Taiga touch to some Old Tom Gin classics will find that Distillery Fils Du Roy’s Gin Thuya works well. I’d recommend trying the Tom Collins and Martinez; and then go from there.
Overall
Distillery Fils Du Roy’s Gin Thuya is a really pleasant surprise. Good balance, pleasant mouth feel, and the surprising mid-palate anethole/licorice make it a winner for cocktail craft and on its own.
Recommended.
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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