It’s been near on a decade and yet the word Jura still evokes a spirited response (and not a good one), but it would erroneous to fault an island for one bad scotch – so let’s see how they’ve fared at gins, which recently we’ve been on a kick for with scottish gins so this should be interesting. The short version is that if you are looking for a truly unique sort of gin in this day and age, you will certainly find it here, and more so there are places where this gin does rather well. However as you’d expect there’s a big butt on the horizon.
(Apologies for the typo that was only supposed to have 1 t) Speaking of extra T let’s drag this gin through the mud first. When you smell and then subsequently taste this you will not be thinking ‘ahh such a unique gin’ and instead be thinking ‘was I wearing chapstick because why do I taste that’. The trouble with trying to do unique blends of various botanicals in gins is sometimes you end up with something that feels wrong. However as stated above the fold there is hope.
What they Say: “A zesty, aromatic gin distilled with 15 island botanicals. Grown and gathered by 3 women on the Isle of Jura. An unspoilt wilderness of the west coast of Scotland.”
Editor’s note: Bolding is their choice
Taste: 4.0 – It’s starts almost a bit black pepper and that slick oily juniper flavor. Throw in something vegetal and it’s like a weird salad. It really does not bode super well neat, but given the myriad of directions this goes it could make for some interesting cocktails.
Aftertaste: 4.0 – Well that’s why it smells that way, it kind of tastes like it too. This caused some research which concluded it’s lemon balm a mint variant. Kudos for trying, and again surely someone is all about this – but no.
Burn/Smooth: 3.5 – There’s a bit of burn, especially on the backburner if you happen to burp a bit. Truly though this doesn’t go down easy even regardless of the burning.
Aroma: 2.0 – It smells like handcream. Like some odd mix of lemon and coconut and just – yeah like soap but not, just – well fucken hand cream. There are surely some folks out there who may like that, or possibly it’s just some weird natural botanical – but who the fuck wants to drink something that smells like hand cream?
Honesty: 7.0 – Nothing wrong there literature wise aside from the silly bolding. It certainly has a distinct smell and feel and based on the things they put in that all makes sense. Design wise it’s nice and crisp as well, and the weird little bottle scarf is fun. (that patterned bit on the neck of the bottle). No real big points earned, but none lost.
Mixability: 5.83
W/ Rocks: 6.0 – You know. That really shaves off so many harsh edges to this taste and burn wise. You get a bit more that like lemony and grassy flavor without so much of that handcream-ness. It also melds things together a bit. Let it sit on the ice or add a few extra drops of water, but it’s a marked improvement.
Gin and Tonic: 4.5 – It’s not bad, and the gin certainly adds some unique character to this, but it’s not exactly a great G&T, and as well compared to other drinks – tonic is not the way here.
Martini: 7.0 – It shifts again here, despite everything it’s almost a bit sweet as the dryness clears everything up really quickly. It truly is so much better as a martini gin than neat – just make sure it’s bit dirty and not Churchill style.
Value: 4.0 – Ooof. The problem here with such a price is that this really is more a unique cocktail kinda gal. Surely it’s a bartenders friend to try and figure out the way to use this and upsell it 300%, but for the average person – there’s better martini gins at this price. Combine that with it’s failures elsewhere and value isn’t a strong point.
Google Shop Average: $30
Website: https://www.lussagin.com/
Reviewer Scores:
BuffaloJern: 4.5
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Metric Score: 30.33/70 |+| Metric Average: 4.33 |+| Reviewer Average: 4.5
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Final Thoughts: The fairest assessment of this gin is that it tried something, it is unique – which given our pit of despair of the awful and mundane is a beacon of light. Now of course it also sort of sucks in quite a few ways, being horrendous neat and costing way to much to ever buy again. That sadly leads us to the conclusion here of – should you buy it. While yes it can make up some points, the answer is still no.
They tried letting men gather the botanicals, but it didn’t work out. Changed the whole taste. Even letting two women do it when the third had maternity leave ruined a month’s production.