If you’ve been paying attention – we’re sort of a gin streak here, and of the 3 this might be our most well liked overall, but not necessarily the best of the bunch
For some reason the words ‘armchair tea’ is just immensely funny (just imagining someone putting an armchair through a mulcher, turning it into a paste and squeezing the liquid) anyway that list of very Japanese botanicals is a welcome sight for a gin as gin is at it’s best when it’s weird.
What they Say: “Crafted by Japanese artisans, ROKU is a multi-layered, perfectly balanced gin combining both traditional and 6 uniquely Japanese botanicals.
(There are small images for this) Sakura flower, yuzu peel, armchair tea, sans go pepper, sakura leaf, gyohuro tea.”
Taste: 5.0 – At first it’s just a rush of botanicals and flavors. Nothing sort of marrying, nor competing – the result is unique, but not wholly desirable.
Aftertaste: 6.0 – Here you get something a bit simpler and a bit nicer, if hard to place taste-wise (likely something from their unique botanical list)
Burn/Smooth: 4.5 – There is a burn aspect here, but it’s weirdly charcoal-ish and not as bad.
Aroma: 7.5 – Now we’ve actually delved into Japanese cooking and so we can say it’s most certainly the Yuzu here as the delicious citrus doing it’s best work. Beyond that, it’s quite hard to discern what’s going on. It is however altogether pleasant.
Honesty: 7.0 – Perfectly balanced is a stretch. However, we’ll admit the minor drawings of the ingredients is actually a nice play. Combine that with the hex bottle and overall look, and they do well here.
Mixability: 6.0
W/ Rocks: 5.5 – It takes away the harshness, and the result is the gin, but in an odd form. It’s not a smooth sipper and instead becomes – weird. You miss out on some flavors as well.
Gin and Tonic: 6.5 – That is actually pretty good with enough of the gin’s character taste shining through, without too many bad aspects.
Martini: 6.0 – You need to adjust ratios (aka be very heavy on gin) but as long as it’s not overpowered, it works better here than straight rocks.
Value: 4.5 – As we saw with the recent Minke gin, while this is overall actually pretty good – the price range means this should be stellar.
Google Shop Average: $29
Website: https://rokugin.suntory.com/
Reviewer Scores:
BuffaloJern: 6.5
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Metric Score: 40.5/70 |+| Metric Average: 5.79 |+| Reviewer Average: 6.5
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Final Thoughts: This literally lost to the Minke from 2 weeks ago by half a point. However if you are a fan of gins and have been following along the last few weeks with us – this is the gin for you. While it too has some issues, it’s slightly cheaper, slightly better at mixing, but overall is just nice to drink. We literally did a rash of 3 gins at once to compare internally and having something without that gin slick feel and instead a unique blend of botanical flavors is why we love gin.
