Long Table – London Dry Gin

In a bit of a rarity in the pacific northwest, where showcasing local botanicals and flavor profiles seems to be the dominant style, Long Table, based out of Vancouver, is making a local London Dry style gin that I was keen to try. With a recent silver medal award at the 2015 San Francisco World Spirits competition for their London Dry, and a Gold medal at the same competition for their Cucumber Gin, Long Table’s gins are certainly earning some well-deserved attention.

The distillery indicates that their London Dry has 8 botanicals without going into too much detail, but you can be fairly certain that it includes the standards: juniper, coriander, angelica, lemon peel and potentially orris root. Going out on a bit of a limb, based on the flavors in this gin, I’m going to suggest that the other possible botanicals could include nutmeg, cubib berries and/or grains of paradise, cassia bark and licorice root.

When you smell this gin, juniper comes off strongest, with citrus following with a peppery background. I also picked up very light cinnamon and licorice scents.

Tasting this gin neat, the juniper didn’t deliver as strongly as I expected, especially compared to some other London dry gins, however it was beautifully simple and clean to drink by itself. The juniper was supported by bright but smooth lemon, strong coriander, pepper and a pleasant wood or bark-like base. Barely noticeable hints of licorice and cinnamon flavors sweetened and balanced the profile. When ice was added this seemed to have the effect of chilling out the juniper even further, and my tasting of it felt like it started off delicate with the flavors slowly building together.

I was challenged a bit to find a good gin and tonic combination that didn’t overpower or wash out the gin flavors. A nod to the local market, I wanted to try this gin with Phillips’ fermentorium tonics, and found that the best match was the Artisanal Dry tonic, which combined really well with the gin. Fever tree, also worked well.

As for G&Ts, with this gin I found a higher gin-to-tonic ratio (less than 2 parts tonic to 1 part of the gin) was better for showcasing the gin, and the best garnish combo I found in my short study was rosemary and a small amount of cucumber. This mix highlighted the gin’s peppery and woodsy notes while still allowing the juniper to shine. Lime was a solid second choice and lemon peel worked as well. I think this gin would probably also shine in a martini, maybe even with added savory elements.