Everyone has one type of alcohol that induces an experience so vile they simply cannot look at the drink again. Mine is gin. Whenever I think of it, I think of that time I drank enough pink gin to put me gently to sleep on a friend’s bathroom floor. But regardless, it was Saturday and I wanted an excuse to 1) day drink; and 2) leave North Dunedin. Sandymount Distillery gin tasting it was.
Telling a family-friend about the tasting, I managed to start off the day with an explanation of the gin industry so detailed that it added 0.25 EFTS to my StudyLink account. Blanking out for the most-part, the moral of the story (I think) was that gin is cheap to make and the turnaround is only three months. Essentially, people make gin t o get a distillery off the ground before turning to making a straigh & t that actually tastes good. This was finished with a lesson for homebrewers: if you make your own gin at home you can (allegedly) avoid blindness by filtering your prison gin through a loaf of shit white bread.
The tasting began with your standard tour/tasting dick-measuring contest. The people leading the tasting pretended we cared about the temperature the botanicals and aromatics put into the gin are heated to, and I pretended to be interested in anything other than drinking. Here’s a layman’s understanding of their unique gins.
Chapter Four: Chapter Four is all about revisiting memories of growing up on the water and fishing in the harbour. Memories like the smell of low tide. This gin is flavoured with seaweed, and if there is one thing it does well, is taste like the ocean. I don’t particularly like the taste of salt water.
Lovers Light: Lovers Light is the first mid-strength gin in NZ, although not technically called a gin. It appeals to those who like gin but don’t drink gin to get drunk, which is about six people. Tastes like cucumber.
Winter Gin: Winter Gin took the recipe for mulled wine and applied it to gin on an industrial scale, while substituting warmth for the burning sensation it gives while going down. Surprisingly good.
Tī Kōuka Forest Gin: The niche of this gin is that it showcases native botanicals such as Harakeke, Tī Kōuka bark, and Kawakawa. I don’t know what any of those taste like individually, but the gins are not bad. Plus, Sandymount Distillery is certified carbon positive, and plants all of the natives around their property, which for some reason really pisses off boomers on Facebook. Almost as much as putting a crossing in on Albany Street, actually.
LadyBird Navy Strength: “This one’s fucked.” Tasting notes of ethanol. 54.5% though.
Taste Rating: 8/10. Gin grew on me.
Additional Use: Making your house smell like the elderly
Hangoverness: Filtering my liver through white bread