Junipero

[splatgirl]

So far, can't find it. We are gin lovers. Is it worth an ongoing effort to find?

[Delucacheesemonger]

Add me to the yes list. Along with Old Tom Ransom and Old Raj 110, it is one of the three l keep in my home all the time.

[hawkeyeui93]

Just got it in my local liquor store in Ames, Iowa [and the State of Iowa is a liquor control state, so I am pleasantly surprised]. The problem is that it comes with an ultra-premium price [$47 plus tax]. I want to try it and I am a huge gin fan, but it has a steep admission to ride ....

[zin1953]

Option: find it in a bar/restaurant, and simply buy a drink, not a bottle.

[hawkeyeui93]

Good call. Or stop complaining and shell out $50 and enjoy the whole bottle at home. I am about to be slammed by ten-plus inches of snow, so this may be a good time to give it a whirl.

[ncyankee101]

I'm sure it will make a great gin buck ;-)

[hawkeyeui93]

It better! :)

[ellaystingray]

As long as we went as far a field as Boomsma "Oude", I'll throw a couple out there that shouldn't be too hard to find in California but may be a pipe dream otherwise unless your state is shippable.

St. George Spirits makes three gins--Botanivore, Dry Rye and Terroir--that I find amazing. I am also a sucker for the apothecary-ish bottles they use.

Another product I love is called Sage, from Art in the Age distillery. It is a "gin" with Sage instead of Juniper as the fingerprint botanical, though there are a bunch of other (oddball?) ones in there too like Sumac and Dandelion. I love it in a Negroni but you have to like the base product to appriciate this twist.

And FWIW, I love Junipero. Anchor Distilling deserves a lot of credit for getting into the craft distilling business long before it was fashionable.

[MGZ]

"I love Junipero. Anchor Distilling deserves a lot of credit for getting
into the craft distilling business long before it was fashionable."

Absolutely. They were a bit on top of the "craft" beer thing too.

For what it's worth, when I get my hands on a bottle of Junipero again, I am looking forward to seeing if I can find some of the new batches of American Vermouths. This NY Times article rekindled my belief that martini making and martini drinking should always be subject to ongoing experimentation:

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/13/din...

Now that we've got a few years worth of "new" gins and are starting to have greater access to different vermouths, it's gettin' fun!

[EvergreenDan]

I just saw all three St George gins locally. Any notes? Which one to try first? The Dry Rye sounds pretty interesting.

[zin1953]

I was at St. George Distillery this past Saturday.

The "Botanivore" is the most "classic" in style -- think Tanqueray/Beefeater/Bombay -- I bought a 750ml of this.

The "Terroir" is made using Douglas fir and other herbs -- but while I find it more "piney," it's also more delicate . . . to me. (Be advised the distillery thinks it's the other way 'round.)

They weren't pouring the "Dry Rye."

[rcb4d]

Hi-Time Wine sells a 3-pack of 200ml bottles, perfect for sampling. I have one en route; I'm going to have myself a tasting "party" this weekend. By party, I mean it'll be my wife and I drinking G&Ts and Martinis.

[davis_sq_pro]

Personally I think it's very good, perhaps even excellent, but not worth putting a ton of effort into finding if you can get another, similar gin.

Is No. 209 available in your area? It's also from SF, very similar in style. You also might consider looking for Citadelle, Bluecoat, or Aviation -- all New American style gins that are thematically at least somewhat comparable to Junipero.

What gins do you normally enjoy?

[splatgirl]

Bluecoat and Hendricks are our house faves and almost always on hand around here. We also both really like Plymouth. Presently, we are working on a bottle of North Shore (mostly because it's local to us. I'd probably not buy again) and just finished a bottle of Farmers, which I thought was OK to boring and Boy disliked.
Bombay Sapphire if we are slumming, a throwback to our entry level gin drinking days :)

I did see No. 209, yes. Will try!. The guy helping me recommended a brand I'd never heard of as the best he's ever tasted that I am forgetting the name of, argh. I'll recognize it when I see it, hopefully.

Because I couldn't find Junipero and I wanted something different, I ended up going the complete opposite direction and got a bottle of Boosma Oude. There's something of an Inside joke for us that it's Dutch, and It'll be his VD gift. We'll see!

[davis_sq_pro]

Funny about slumming it on the Sapphire. Bombay (regular, non-Sapphire) is probably my favorite general purpose mixing gin. The more "upscale" Sapphire is a distant -- and bland -- second.

Great choice on the Boomsma Oude. Good stuff. Try it in a Pegu Club for an interesting (IMO) twist. Another one to look out for, if you want different, is Ransom Old Tom. Super flavorful, heavy, a bit sweet. Just awesome.

[ncyankee101]

I quite like the bottle of Hayman's I have. I meant to order a bottle of Bols barrel aged in my last order from Hitime but got carried away loading the boat with some closeout tequila and forgot. They have a good price of $35 for a liter.

[EvergreenDan]

Ransom is ... I dunno ... coriander-flavored whiskey? That is some weird stuff.

Makes a pretty awesome Negroni with Punt e Mes. Maybe I'll have that tonight. It doesn't go into most gin drinks willingly.

--
www.kindredcocktails.com | Craft + Collect + Concoct + Categorize + Community

[davis_sq_pro]

It's absolutely amazing in a G&T in my opinion. I use Q tonic, some Ransom, a few dashes of lemon juice, a few dashes of lemoncello (to balance the sweetness and get some additional citrus), and a dash or two of Bitter Truth aromatic bitters. Not the classic G&T but very nice in my opinion.

Usually, though, I just sip the Ransom straight. So maybe you're right on the whiskey comparison.

[monopod]

Martinez, no? Isn't that a classic place for an old tom? I personally love it.

[splatgirl]

Well, the Boomsma Oude has been cracked. First neat, which I liked a lot. Then Boy gave it the G&T test, and I made an Old Fashioned-ish kind of thing, minus the cherry.
I was surprised by it's success in a G&T. I was expecting that to be a fail, but it was really pretty good.
The muddled orange, pinch of sugar and orange bitters combo was nice. If I remember to buy one, I'm going to try it with grapefruit next time.

I think I'm categorizing it as a nice summer alternative to bourbon. Still interesting, flavor-wise, but fresher and not as heavy.

[zin1953]

Just an aside: love No. 209 . . .

[MGZ]

Me too.

[splatgirl]

Thanks to you both. It's definitely on my list for next trip!

[ncyankee101]

Hi-time shows it on their website, and dropped the price to $23 (I remember at one time it was over $30).

That doesn't necessarily mean they have it in stock, I have tried to get Duffau Napoleon my last two orders with no luck.

[MGZ]

Yes. Go to San Francisco if you have to. Drink it neat the first time you taste it. It's my favorite gin.

Otherwise, order it from SFWT: https://www.sfwtc.com/store/pc/Junipe...