My quest for gin pokemon (gotta catch ’em all) continues – and this year especially has seen a massive increase in gin availability. If you’re a fanatic like me, it’s getting harder and harder to keep up. There’s only a limited amount of pennies in your bank account for pretty gins, whether you buy a bottle, or a taster at a bar.
Which is why I rather like the Flaviar concept. Tasting packs are a whole heap of fun – a sample of 5 spirits, beautifully packaged, and contained in little test tube style packs, that you can have as a one off, or subscription at a rate to suit you. Sort of like the kits I get from Shaken Cocktail, but concentrating on a single spirit, and each with enough for 3 people. Impromptu tasting at home? Yes please.
In fact, when I spotted the gin kit had two gins that hadn’t passed my lips, I immediately bypassed the rums, whiskies and brandy, and opted for this little package.
I love the packaging. It’s neat, and would be great as a gift. This particular sampler, the Gin O’clock kit had some familiar faces – the classic juniper led citrus of Sipsmith London Dry Gin, the warm spiciness of No3 London Dry Gin and the complex layers of Monkey 47.
It also had, as I mentioned, two newbies to me – the American Koval Gin, and the Austrian Reisetbauer Blue Gin.
Koval Gin is the product of the first new distillery in the windy city, Chicago since the mid 19th century. Promising organic and indeed kosher, grain to glass distilling, the husband and wife team Drs Robert and Sonat Birnecker source the grains from Midwest USA farms, and distill using filtered Lake Michigan water, to keep it local.
This was lovely and layered. Much less complex than Monkey 47, it still offered lots of fruit and florals – from the rosehips, juniper and cardamom with their perfume, through to the spice of the cinnamon and coriander. Underneath too, for me at least, was a layer of sweetness, of that creamy, earthy liquorice style sweetness, that gave way to a dry finish.
Reisetbauer is a relatively layered and complex gin, with 27 botanicals, including Austrian hops, clove, cinnamon, chamomile, orange peel, cardamom, almonds, white and black pepper and fresh juniper. As ever, they’re a little quiet on the other botanicals, but these give us a good start.
The white pepper is definitely present, and it has a good citrus hit and a honeyed finish. It’s one that can be sipped, and sipped again – a tiny bit of ice (single small cube) helps lengthen it and bring out more of the layers, changing the flavours present with every mouthful.
Of course things don’t just stop at tasting packs. There’s the School of Spirits for those wanting to expand their spirits knowledge and there are also bottles – some unusual beauties too, and at a lower than retail price. There are one or two that I’ve got my eye on for payday.
If you need a little more spending power, there’s a referral reward programme. Invite friends to join and earn credits when they place their first order – they too receive £10 for signing up.
They also do regular giveaways, the latest of which could see you winning anything from a tasting pack, to a 20 bottle home bar. If you’ve just been paid and are planning a spend anyway, this might be worth a look. Flaviar’s April Giveaway.
Personally, I’m going to be watching those little taster packs. Given the variety on offer, I think I might just find my purse a little lighter this month.
This tasting kit was received free of charge for review purposes. The next one, I suspect won’t be. Or the one after that.