Wine & Spirits - Spring 2023 - 18

brine and one-quarter ounce dry vermouth (we used Carpano). They
melded into a delicious and savory dirty gin Martini which caught my
attention. I often don't care for dirty gin Martinis when the florals overpower
the saltiness of the olive juice but, in this case, the gin's lack of
floral aromas allowed the drink's brininess to bring out the vermouth's
aromatics, which, in turn, heightened the gin's flavors, revealing lemon
and orange citrus components.
A BARREL AGED GIN & TONIC IN OREGON CITY
Trillium Pink Pinot Gin (Trail Distilling Company)
oregon City was tHe last stop on tHe HistoriCal oregon trail.
Here, Trillium produces Pink Pinot as its flagship gin. Aged in Oregon
pinot noir barrels for a minimum of two months, the gin has a pinkamber
color and a salty-fresh scent. Just-popped kettle corn jumped
out along with savory caramel, but red berries and floral notes persisted
underneath. There's a woodsy, umami character that stokes the
appetite. It reminded Acevedo of caramelized carrots; for Garay, it
brought to mind peach pie with cacao. Williams questioned the oak.
" I'm trying to get over my own bias that gin shouldn't be brown, " he
stated. But McCarthy argued, " Why is there a rule to barrel-aging?
Why can't you play and round it out? " And, while there was some
debate about whether we'd want to sip this gin straight, everyone
agreed it made the perfect G&T. Williams said, " The tonic brings
out its citrus notes. " And McCarthy-who claims generally not to
like tonic-loved how the caramel blended with the sweet and bitter
tonic flavors.
OTIUM'S RICH WILLIAMS EXPERIMENTS WITH PAINTED LADY NEW
AMERICAN gIN TO CREATE AN HERBAL-FORWARD COCKTAIL
AN EASTSIDE IN PORTLAND
Aimsir Distilling Co. Aitil House Gin
Husband-and-wife team steve and CHristine Hopkins establisHed
Aimsir Distilling Company in 2016. Their savory Aitil House Gin is vegetal
and herbal: It begins with lemon and lavender and ends with spearmint,
thyme and star anise. Our first thought was to use it in a twist on
the Last Word. Williams recommended one ounce gin, one-half ounce
maraschino liqueur, and three-quarter ounces each of yellow Chartreuse
and lime juice. The cocktail was delicious-we kept going back sip after
sip-but it seemed that the chartreuse melded so seamlessly with the
Aimsir that it masked its unique vegetal notes. So, we tried mixing it into
a classic Eastside, and the gin found its voice. The lime, mint and cucumber
served as back-up to the stronger licorice and herbal notes, supporting
rather than overpowering. To enhance the gin's flavor even more,
dilute the lime and simple syrup with a couple splashes of club soda.
A CLASSIC DIRTY GIN MARTINI IN PORTLAND
New Deal Gin No. 1
wHen new deal opened in 2004, it was one of tHe smallest
licensed distilleries in America. Based in Portland, New Deal makes
small-batch gin with Bull Run River water-a fresh-water tributary
of Oregon's Sandy River-and uses only locally sourced ingredients.
When we first tasted New Deal's Gin No. 1, we weren't immediately
sold. It wasn't overly aromatic, and it was thicker and brinier than some
of the more floral gins in the tasting. Acevedo called out " a marjoramand-white-sage
quality with woodsy herbs, " and her colleague Garay
suggested it would be better for mixing than sipping on its own. The
label describes the bottle as " a savory gin in the garden style, " providing
its own New Deal Dirty Martini recipe on the back. So, we decided to
try it: two-and-a-half ounces New Deal Gin No. 1, one-half ounce olive
18
WINE & SPIR IT S
S PR IN g 2023
A GIN FIZZ IN NEWBERG
Ewing Young Distillery Miranda's Oregon Summer Dry Gin
named after tHe pioneer wHo establisHed oregon's westernmost
farm in Chehalem Valley in 1834 as well as the first distillery in Oregon
County, this present-day distillery lies on the same land, 125 yards from
Young's gravesite. This gin is named for Miranda, his best friend's wife,
who planted an acorn at his burial site, which is now the Ewing Young
Oak, an Oregon Heritage tree. Miranda's Oregon Summer is made
with local botanicals; it feels sunny, with bright scents of citrus, crisp
cucumber and a hint of salty ocean air from the nearby Pacific. There
are fresh and dried floral notes with cracked pepper and elderflower
lingering on the finish. Mixed with grapefruit juice, sparkling water and
Prosecco, this could make a great alternative to an Aperol Spritz. We
mixed it into a classic Gin Fizz. The citrus and cucumber notes were
enhanced by the lemon juice and club soda, and the egg white gave
the drink a fluffy, creamy body, perfect for sipping on the porch on a
hot summer night.
A FRENCH 75 IN NEWPORT
Rogue Farmhouse Gin
rogue started as a brewpub, founded by JaCk JoyCe in newport,
Oregon in 1988, later expanding into a distillery in 2003. This cucumber-forward
gin boasts 100 pounds of fresh cucumber per batch but
it's not a one-note spirit. Fresh lemon, lime and bergamot on the nose
mix with juniper, thyme and basil on the palate, followed by an interesting
pop of red berry and litchi on the finish. With its smooth, silky
mouthfeel, this could be a great starter for non-gin drinkers: " This is
the gin that doesn't offend anyone at the party, " said Marie. Rinaldi
suggested the pure quality would make a great dry gin Martini or a
spring sipper with soda and basil. It was also perfect in a French 75.
The citrus in the drink played well with the citrus notes in the gin and
the bubbles seemed to match the gin's lively energy.
Wine & Spirits - Spring 2023

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