On the 6th of February, Rick Cloete introduced us to the Unforgettable Gin range. Rick gave us his fantastic story of he came up with the name and why he made the range. The tasting, took the format of tasting the Gin, then adding a small block of ice (tasting it again) and then tasting with a tonic. The comments and average scores are from each Gin tasted as a whole. An amazing tasting filled with insights of how these very different Gins were made. I have to admit, one of the best I have ever been to! The tasting order, comments of the tasters (not many I am afraid), as well as the average scores are as follows:
1. London Dry (with pink tonic)
Colour- clear. Nose- berry, dry. Palate- red and dark berries, with hints of Juniper berries, dried finish.
Score- 16.33.
2. Strawberry & Kiwi Gin (with pink tonic)
Colour- purple with glitter. Nose- citrus, kiwi fruit, strawberry. Palate- soft kiwi fruit, spice, with large amount of strawberry to the fore, with a slight citrusy end.
Score- 17.83 (to date tied 2nd of all wines/Gins tasted for 2024).
3. Turkish Delight Gin (with blue tonic)
Colour- pink (before tonic added). Nose- forthcoming Turkish Delight, musk and pink sweets. Palate- Juniper berries, musk, spices, Turkish delight to the fore, with hints of blue berries (I think from the tonic).
Score- 16.50.
4. Blood Orange Gin (with pink tonic)
Colour- sparkling red-orange. Nose- oranges, other citrus fruits including grapefruit to the fore. Palate- grapefruit, with bold oranges, very spirit driven, hints of Juniper.
Score- 16.67.
5. Candy Floss Gin (with pink tonic)
Colour- blue (before the tonic). Nose- full blue berries and spices, blue berries very accentuated after the addition of the tonic. Palate- sugar, spices, caramel, vanilla, with Candy Floss full on the palate.
Score- 17.67 (4th best for 2024).
6. Litchi Gin(with normal Indian tonic)
Colour- yellow. Nose- litchi, lemon, pineapple, spice. Palate- litchi full on the palate, spice and lemons.
Score- 16.83.
7. Apple & Cinnamon Gin (with normal Indian tonic)
Colour- green with glitter. Nose- apple, Juniper berries, lots of cinnamon. Palate- apple massively to the fore and lingering long after the finish, with hints of spice and cinnamon! A wow Gin!
Score- 18.17 (Top of the pops for 2024 so far)!
At the end of the tasting, Rick encouraged the tasters to play around with blending the various Gins together. The tasters were also encouraged to taste the various Gins with all the different mix’s. This playing around, was really allot of fun! What a massive difference a mix can make to a particular flavour profile of a Gin, is very interesting. This was a very unique tasting of Gins, which flavour components were added during their distillation, with the exception of the London Dry. All the tasters enjoyed the experience and we would all like to thank Rick for this lovely opportunity!
Comments