London Dry Archives - First Pour Cocktails

Tanqueray London Dry Gin

Posted on November 19, 2021November 11, 2021 by Nick

Owned by Diageo, Tanqueray is a brand positioned as premium but that isn’t the highest in the Tanqueray portfolio. Tanqueray London Dry Gin is positioned as their entry level brand, while they market Tanqueray No 10 Gin as their premium offering. Most people won’t ever get to realizing this though, as Tanqueray frequently is seen as a premium brand in bars and restaurants. Distilled for nearly 200 years, it’s one of the most recognizable gin brands in the world. Despite this, it’s affordable. So should it have a home in your home bar?

Tanqueray London Dry Gin

Sight: Clear

Smell: Soft to start with touches of vanilla. Juniper leads off heavily, pulls in touches of cinnamon and spicing. Touches of lemon and other citrus comes in, and hints of exotic spicing joins in. There’s a hint of heat.

Sip: The start is similarly soft and smooth, but the heat turns up relatively quickly. A bit of sweetness is responsible for this start, which lasts throughout. Juniper is the dominate note, but it’s complimented by a spicy character. There’s notes of angelica and cinnamon that are prevalent. Other sorts of herbal notes are really not as obvious at the spice touches.

Savor: On the ending, the finish has a kick up of heat and more of a powdered cinnamon and touch of red hot style spice. Juniper eventually overwhelms the other notes.

Tanqueray London Dry Gin is a little hot, slightly sweet, and more spicy than a typical London dry gin. That’s not to say it’s a bad thing, it has the underlying Juniper flavor that you’d expect from gin. The spice is also not nearly as pronounced as a contemporary style of gin. Overall, it creates a very good opportunity layering flavors on top.

In Cocktails

In a Martini the underlying spice plays a strong foil to the herbal notes in the vermouth. The brightness compliments the sweetness well, and it lends a clean, refreshing character to the drink. The ending lingers with more spice and subtle. The juniper is there, but due to the spice, it holds itself in check. Tanqueray may be a little wild on it’s own, but it also plays well with others.

In Review – Tanqueray London Dry Gin

Tanqueray London Dry Gin works well in cocktails, even if it doesn’t necessarily break new ground. Individuals that aren’t a big fan of juniper might struggle with Tanqueray and look toward Beefeater or Bombay Sapphire. That said, if you like juniper and spice, then Tanqueray plays well with others. The price being close to equal with Beefeater and Bombay puts Tanqueray into the recommended bottles for a home bar.

Bombay Sapphire London Dry Gin

Posted on October 22, 2021November 21, 2021 by Nick

While juniper is the most well known botanical used to flavor gin, there are often a host of other supporting flavors. These can range from cassia to lemon rind to grains of paradise to almost any spice the mind can conceive of. For these reasons, gins are highly variable as their influence is driven by more than factors like grain or fruit used and aging vessels. Among the most famous gins is Bombay Sapphire London Dry Gin, which includes over 10 different botanicals, include cubeb, grains of paradise, and almonds.

Bombay Sapphire London Dry Gin

While Bombay Sapphire London Dry Gin is from a 1761 recipe, its worth noting that the brand is from the 1980’s. Following a run of success, it was sold to Bacardi, who has crafted other versions (including original Bombay Dry and Bombay East). The version in the US is the 94 proof, while international versions are 80 proof.

Sight: Clear.

Smell: The nose leads off with a bit of spice before jumping into juniper. The smell is bright and perfume like with a touch of almond, a variety of citrus (predominately grapefruit), and a hint of coriander. The spice creeps back in and is almost pepper like – most likely from the grains of paradise or cubeb berries.

Sip: The start has a hint of sweetness that slowly fades as the mouthfeel gets slightly warm. The heat persist throughout, but notes of juniper and citrus rind dominate the top notes. Hints of spice and earth notes grow in the background, with a persistent touch of pepper.

Savor: The ending is dominated by spicy pepper and juniper wrapped in lemon peel. The ending lingers provocatively.

Bombay Sapphire London Dry Gin is an aggressive gin that doesn’t end up tasting like a pine tree. This dominance is driven by the citrus and spice notes that help balance the juniper notes throughout. The result is a bold gin that toes the line between herbal and spice in an elegant and strong way. While the palate feel is slightly harsh, the flavors are strongly indicative of a London Dry Gin.

In Cocktails

Bombay Sapphire London Dry Gin really opens up in Martini. Floral notes and juniper jump out to lead, with plenty of citrus coming in to play background. Combined with the acidity and herbal notes of the wine, it blends smoothly and effortlessly, leading to a clean and inviting drink. Bombay helps to keep the strength of the gin in the forefront, but allows the vermouth to play its support role admirably.

In Review – Bombay Sapphire London Dry Gin

We recommend Bombay Sapphire London Dry Gin, both thanks to it’s dominate characteristics and complex flavor profile. The added bonus of playing nicely with other ingredients while still showing the full strength of botanicals present in gin. The price and availability are another reason for our recommendation. In the low to mid $20 price point, there’s a lot of value offered for the price.

Bombay Sapphire’s Website

Fords Gin

Posted on October 8, 2021October 3, 2021 by Nick

Fords Gin seeks to be a versatile gin that is perfect for classic gin cocktails. This is an ideal application of Gin, as of all the base spirits, it’s one of the only choices that doesn’t also have a significant number of individuals enjoying it neat. The result of the choices made by Fords is a gin that seeks to bring out the best mix of flavors that are awakened by the addition of other elements, be they water or cocktail ingredients.

Fords Gin

Most gins don’t give you the exact percentage breakdown of their herbs and spice. Fords is a bit of an exception in this regard, providing exactly what percentage of each item is. Per their website:

Juniper – 49.5%
Coriander – 30.5%
Lemon – 3.2%
Bitter Orange – 3.2%
Grapefruit – 3.2%
Cassia – 2%
Angelica – 3.2%
Jasmine – 3.2%
Orris – 2%

Sight: Clear.

Smell: Juniper jumps out, but it’s more subdued. It’s followed by notes of creamy lemon and orange, earthy notes reminiscent of cassia and coriander, and floral notes. There’s a touch of heat as well.

Sip: Smooth and silky on the start, notes of citrus lead off the palate, bringing out orange and lemon zest. The background begins to building, adding touches of spice, plenty of juniper and coriander, and hints of jasmine. The heat on the noses doesn’t materialize here, but a pretty brightness does.

Savor: The ending brings in more notes or orange zest and lemon. It gets more pithy and a touch dry as it goes.

Fords Gin has a nice complexity to it, and is clearly configured to try to achieve balance instead of dominance. The overall smoothness gives it a pleasant texture that seems to be built to compliment other flavors. The spicing is just complex enough that it keeps begging your attention in the background. Overall, it’s very inviting and curiously interesting.

In Cocktails

In a Martini Fords Gin is well balanced, giving a nice mix of juniper and spice while also providing a space for the citrus to thrive. The texture is smooth, and the finish is clean and slightly citrusy and floral. Some of the spice notes are surprisingly prominent, and help to subdue the traditional juniper forward nature that are associated with gin.

In Review – Fords Gin

Fords Gin earns a lot of positive nods for both it’s pedigree and the development focused balanced drinks. Fords Gin does fairly well at achieving balance, especially on its own. It also does fairly well in cocktails, although it isn’t the most prevalent and sometimes almost blends with other elements. The other element of Fords Gin is the price. At nearly $30, it sits at almost double a traditional gin like Beefeater. The problem is the flavor isn’t twice as nice. For these reasons, we encourage lovers of gin to try Fords, but it’s not a must have for those running their home bar.

Beefeater London Dry Gin

Posted on March 25, 2020June 21, 2020 by Nick

Perhaps there is no Gin that’s bottle and brand so stands out to decidedly stands out to me as both British and cosmopolitan as Beefeater. The Yeoman Warders (or Beefeaters) are of course the ceremonial guards of the Tower of London, and Beefeater Gin prominently features one on the label. The brand has been around since 1876 – and not for nothing. Beefeater London Dry Gin has won multiple awards from the San Francisco World Spirits Competition between 2006 and 2012, as well as high ratings from spirit reviewers.

So with all that said, does Beefeater deserve a place on your bar?

Beefeater London Dry Gin

Sight: Clear.

Smell: Juniper comes to a head from the start – it’s accented by notes of lemon peel, touches of spice, citrus, and angelica.

Sip: The mouthfeel leads with citrus peel, but moves into juniper fairly freely. There are notes of coriander and angelica root that pop out over time. There’s a hint of sweetness as well, but the overall profile is clean and light with just a touch of heat.

Savor: The ending emphasizes juniper, citrus pith, and spicing with a hint of bitterness.

Beefeater London Dry Gin is clean, simple, and straightforward. The complexity is enough to lend itself well to cocktails, but strong enough to emphasize itself in cocktails. It particularly goes well in a martini, where it shows off the ability to smooth, while bringing out the best in the vermouth. For this same reason – we like crafting with Beefeater. It plays well in both classics and tiki cocktails, without getting lost. For this reason, we recommend Beefeater as your entry gin.

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