It is a very peak Vermont thing to have a gin that would contain something like maple syrup or honey; however if you were expecting us to be sweet on this review – hello and welcome to Honest Booze Reviews where that rarely happens – and sure as shit isn’t going to happen here.
It’s hard to find anything to truly like here, and if we’re honest it’s challenging to figure out who exactly this is for other than rich white yuppies who buy this because it was featured at a farmers market and the words raw honey sexually excite them. As we’ll say again this will have a life as a secret weapon for some bartender’s special cocktail, but beyond that – it can fuck right off.
What they Say: “Made with juniper and raw honey. A spirit of Vermont.
This gin is a celebration of our special connection to the land. We use pure grain spirits as a canvas to showcase juniper berry and raw northern honey. Added just before bottling, the raw honey imparts unique floral qualities that vary with season and blossom. Our distillery, on the banks of the Lamoille River in the Northeast Kingdom, is rooted in the agriculture of Vermont. Hardwick, Caledonia County, is a community inspired by farms where the production of milk, cheese, timber, vegetables, grains, honey, seeds, and herbs are part of our lives and help define our place.
The best fertilizer is always the footprint of the farmer. ”
Taste: 5.5 – You get a tiny bit of Juniper to start, but when the bottle says honey here it’s not for show. This has a mead like aspect to it. Not exactly a great drink though.
Aftertaste: 5.0 – While most of the issue here is the burn the aftertaste is more just a continuation of some slight juniper and honey. Overall it doesn’t leave you refreshed or having enjoyed it.
Burn/Smooth: 2.5 – That just keeps hitting you with its burn. It thankfully is less a taste aspect, and the sweetness means you don’t feel like paint thinner, but damn.
Aroma: 5.5 – You do certainly get that honey here as the smell is like a sweet version of juniper. It’s almost a bit too sweet though that it makes you worry about drinking it.
Honesty: 4.0 – The best fertilizer often has to do with shit, not a foot print (we rhyming y’all) While we appreciate the farming aspect of the gin and its cohorts, it is Vermont (read mostly trees) and much like those trees a lot of that ideal of a floral gin is lost in honey. Overall this has the look of a small batch (because it likely is), but beyond it’s near 1-note aspect it fails to stand out.
Mixability: 5.5
Gin and Tonic: 4.5 – It’s okay. If anything that honey aspect shines through and sort of ruins it. You could potentially add other things to this and make it a great cocktail.
Martini: 6.5 – It is at least unique which is often what you want in a martini, but because it’s not really tasty or great – it’s not a good martini.
Value: 1.0 – Yes this isn’t a typical gin, and it’s likely another northern small batch deal, but facts are facts – while this might serve in life well as the secret ‘gin’ in some amazing cocktail – that’s not value, that’s premiership. Here in the real world that is far – far too much.
Google Shop Average: $39
Website: https://caledoniaspirits.com/
Reviewer Scores:
BuffaloJern: 2.5
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Metric Score: 32/70 |+| Metric Average: 4.57 |+| Reviewer Average: 2.5
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Final Thoughts: It’s hard to not view this gin as a lightning rod for the problems of the craft/yuppie/gentrification of spirits. It’s at its core just some local Vermont distillery who in trying to stand out chucked some honey to make the medicine go down easier, but the main reason why this gains so much ire is – because they did a shit job of it. We could stomach all the words, the ideals, and even the price if the end product was actually – you know – good?
