Dear family and friends of the Honest Booze Review Community. 2 weeks ago members of the Honest Booze Review Crew took a vacation. Luckily William Henri Neve was found somewhere in a bar, and DJ_Lvl apparently never left. However Justice a dear friend of ours did not show at our scheduled review session. We had sat down ready to review a gin we’ve often recommended: The Tanqueray Rangpur.
When we arrived at the meeting place a package was waiting for us. Below is the contents of that package and the note it came with.
The note read “To whom it may concern. We have been given instruction to give you the personal effects of an individual called Justice. Instructions were to return these effects if the individual was deemed either missing or killed. We are deeply sorry for your loss.”
HBR Reader I am not sure if Justice is dead, but I think I speak for all of us when I say that I’ll never give up hope that he is not merely lost in some war-torn country living to his namesake and ideals. We had thought of going on hiatus until his return, but in our hearts we know he’d like us to forge on. Especially if there’s a good gin to partake in. So we raised our glasses in his name, and enjoyed the citrus and juniper of Tanqueray Rangpur.
There is something about this gin that we all really love. We enjoy Tanqueray and Bombay Sapphire alike, and most often we buy New Amsterdam for the value it provides. However by our metrics the Rangpur ranks lower than standard Tanqueray. Now of course as time goes on we would get a little harsher in numbers having more experience.
However I don’t think that’s it exactly. The problem here is that for a gin Rangpur is a very different breed. Juniper is not the most present thing here, and there’s no giant pine flavor or smell. The combination of citrus in this gin makes it a fantastic thing to drink, and I will always recommend it over standard Tanqueray. It depends on what you’re looking for in a gin really. For example look at what they say to see how the focus here is on the rangpur lime and really nothing else.
What they say: “Tanqueray Rangpur Gin. A distinctive gin distilled with rare rangpur limes and other fine botanicals. The secret of this spirit lies in the flavor of the rangpur lime, which gives a characteristic mild juicy zest. The result is a subtle and refreshing taste with a satisfying smooth finish.”
This undoubtedly makes one of the best Gin and Tonic’s I know of, but in a Martini or any other drink where citrus isn’t an ingredient this gin ranks as well as a flavored vodka. So while you find our metrics lower you’ll see that our own feelings are much higher because as a strictly controlled gin Rangpur deviates, but we love that it does.
Update: We received a missive from Justice post-marked a week ago with his thoughts and scores on the Rangpur, we’ve since included them below.
Taste: 7.875 – Definitely above average, really like the combination of citrus and juniper.
Aftertaste: 6.25 – Long aftertaste, not terrible at all, but it’s different than most gins with no pin-y finish.
Burn/Smooth: 7.25 – Mostly warmness, smoother than most.
Aroma: 7.56 – Smells like above average gin. Very nice citrus smell.
Honesty: 7.25 – The bottle actually looks nicer than standard Tanqueray with it’s distinctive color and frosted glass. However there’s more focus on a fruit than gentlemanly aura unlike the standard. However the gin, and most of the Tanqueray line exude a very classy gentlemen manliness that we can’t deny.
Mixability: 8.75
Gin and Tonic: 8.75 – This makes one of the best gin and tonics. The citrus the gin adds just makes it fantastic.
Buffalo Note: It works well in Martini but it feels like it’s conflicting with the vermouth and olive. If however you make your martini’s with very little vermouth and a lemon zest like some bars do than this is perfect.
Buffalo Note Pt. 2: It does make a much nicer Tom Collins with the combination of lemon and lime flavor.
Value: 5.625 – It’s fair because while New Amsterdam is half the price this is only a couple bucks more than standard Tanqueray or Bombay Sapphire.
Google Shop Average: $29
Website: http://www.tanqueray.com/
Reviewer Scores:
William Henri Neve the IV: 8
BuffaloJern: 8
DJ_Lvl: 7
Justice: 8.5
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Metric Score: 50.56/70 |+| Metric Average: 7.22 |+| Reviewer Average: 7.88
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Final Thoughts:
Rangpur is a fantastic gin, and if you feel like spending a little more on gin it’s a great addition to any home bar.
Cheers mates.
