National Distillery Company - Verdigris

Nose: Lemon, gin botanicals, and laurel. Palate: Smooth entry with lemon and gin botanicals showing up right away. A bit of spice appears later. Nice body. Finish: Moderate. Smooth, lemon, but slightly tart on the finish when sipped straight. A typical London dry recipe, this gin highlights gin botanicals and lemon, but could use something to mellow the primary ingredients. Beyond that, there’s nothing to fault, but also nothing to rave about. It’s a decent “middle-of-the-road” gin. It improved significantly when mixed into a gin and tonic, but I wasn't excited enough to purchase a bottle. I should note that we sampled this and the other National Distillery spirits I'm reviewing here at their facility in Napier, New Zealand. The distillery tour and subsequent tasting were pleasant, engaging, and well worth the expense and time. I strongly suggest it if you find yourself in Napier. Verdigris describes the green coating that forms on copper through oxidation, but I’m unclear on the reason for its selection as this gin's name. Perhaps the stills turned green during production! “Average”: 78/100 (2.75 stars)