Stone Pine Black Truffle Gin 2017

Nose: Features earthy, licorice, and smoky notes with a sweet, grassy compost-like aroma. As you get used to its unusual character, expected juniper and a fragrant spicy note emerge, reminiscent of potpourri made from fragrant bark and roots. Palate: Rich, meaty, earthy, savory, and herbal, with a distinct farmyard quality that is quite unusual. The texture is full and satisfying. Finish: Extended. Earthy spice flavors persist for a long time. The nose is remarkable, presenting truffle-based, humus-and-manure notes, and becomes quite compelling once understood. It lacks citrus and floral elements, which is highly atypical for a gin. It is solidly herbal and spice-based, incorporating ingredients like orris root, coriander seed, and black pepper alongside black truffle. The palate is similarly rich, oily, and spicy, with a visible juniper note in the background. The texture is heavy and full, resembling genever more than gin in some respects. While the distillery suggests it for martinis or with a splash of soda, I find it intriguing neat but ruined by dilution. Its strong personality hinders its use as a mixer. Adding soda made it seem suddenly thin and unsatisfying. Regarding tonic water: avoid it entirely. While tonic's bitter and fragrant nature complements most gins' sweet, aromatic juniper and citrus character, it's a terrible combination here, resulting in a distasteful flavor akin to insecticide. A commendable experiment, but with very limited appeal. It's the kind of spirit sampled at a distillery, purchased out of curiosity for occasional neat enjoyment, but never as a bar staple. Difficult to rate. I enjoyed it, but it's extremely quirky, and those seeking a standard gin style would find it repulsive. I'm assigning a compromise rating of "Above Average". It's no longer available, but it was quite expensive, and frankly, I likely wouldn't have bought a bottle. It's somewhat of a Frankenstein creation—fascinating, even compelling, but fundamentally an anomaly. Many thanks to a friend for the 30ml tasting sample. "Above Average": 80/100 (3 stars)