Colorado’s The Heart Distillery opened their doors in 2018 and have now begun featuring their award winning spirits, including their 2019 Best In Class winning Gin in a line of canned cocktails.
The Heart Distillery Gin and Tonic is 14.3% ABV, which makes it fairly strong for an RTD Gin and Tonic.
Tasting notes
Color: Clear
Aroma: Some vibrant citrus, chiefly lemon and lime. Green juniper and a hint of licorice as well. Clean, refreshing and very-gin forward.
Flavor: Moderate to light on the effervescence. Tight bubbles concentrated on entry, but dissipate quickly, especially when poured into a glass.
Tart citrus at first lands on the palate. Mid palate, herbaceous juniper, rosemary and earthy tones rise. It’s around this point some of the quinine and tonic bitterness begins to come through however; notes of licorice root, white peppercorn, and angelica lend it a deeply botanical presence on the palate.
The sweetness is pleasant and rather high. The Heart Distillery Gin and Tonic remains refreshing and easy to drink, while never becoming cloying. Some may find it sweeter than other RTD gin and tonics and even moreso if their homemade G&T uses light/less sweet tonic waters.
Finish: Long and moderately bitter with dull tones of sage and rosemary quietly receding at the edges of the palate.
Overall, The Heart Distillery Gin and Tonic
Complex and gin-driven, The Heart Distillery Gin and Tonic stands head and shoulder above many of the widely available canned gin and tonics on the American market.
For me, it’s the complexity of the underlying gin, and the way that the drink— built around those flavors— serves to highlight, and not detract from the source material. Pleasantly effervescent, with pleasant bitterness, a generous hit of sweetness and great overall flavor, The Heart Distillery Gin and Tonic is remarkably easy-to-drink at its rather high ABV.
The high sweetness may be a turn off for some. However, for anyone else in search of a balanced, craft, RTD Gin and Tonic— The Heart Distillery Gin and Tonic is a winner in our book. This is one of my favorites on the market today, and I think you’re unlikely to be disappointed if you’re a fan of gin and tonics.
Highly recommended.