Upstate New York is renowned for its fruit. If you’ve ever taken a drive along the shores of Lake Ontario, you might have seen orchard after orchard after orchard. For over one hundred years, Lafayette’s Beak and Skiff Orchards have grown apples. 1911 Spirits was founded to create spirits from these apples.
They make a gin called 1911 Gin. That gin forms the foundation for their canned gin and tonic with lime. It is canned at 8% ABV. Officially it is a “gin with lime and natural flavors.”
Tasting Notes
Aroma: Lime and coriander chiefly, with some notes of warmed McIntosh apple.
Flavor: The 1911 Gin forms a spicy backbone to the 1911 Gin and Tonic. Coriander, cassia, cinnamon all start early as some sweetened lime comes on mid-palate.
The cinnamon lasts until the very end, becoming much sweeter and taking on a candy facet late on the palate. It reminds me of those Brach’s cinnamon candies, that were a staple of my (and many others’) grandmother’s candy bowls.
The finish is only subtly bitter. The tonic aspect is very mild. The sourness is concentrated evenly throughout, though the lime is most clear up front. Finally, 1911 Gin and Tonic is clean and only the slightest bit sweet. It tasted markedly less sweet than even a gin and tonic mixed at home.
Fizz quality: Even poured over ice, there’s a solid medium sized effervescence that lasts quite long. They’re mostly concentrated on the front of the palate.
Overall, 1911 Gin and Tonic
I was a bit concerned with the apple flavor on the nose; however, overall the base spirit is not the story— it’s the botanicals.
If you like spice forward, contemporary style gins, 1911 G&T will fit your tastes perfectly. The juniper will be very light to some. Though I think the moderated sweetness and slight bitterness means that this gin and tonic might have wider appeal, outside of just gin drinkers.