So since we didn’t know, and this ain’t a tea site – Gunpowder Tea is a style of Chinese tea where the leaves are dried and rolled into little balls that resemble gunpowder like pellets. This makes them easier for travel and retains more flavor for a longer time which is what we assume the distilling mind of one PJ Rigney was concerned about.
Having tried this we don’t think the gunpowder tea is to blame for the woes of this gin. In fact, we think more contact with something a dark gunpowder color (charcoal for filtering) and maybe doing more distilling (even if it is slow) would have elevated this gin. Instead, we get something nice – ruined.
What they Say: “From the Curious Mind of PJ Rigney
Here at the edge of a lake in a shed in a small Irish town, the ordinary is made extraordinary. Within is the laboratory of Rigney, boundary-pushing begetter of hand-made spirits who slow distills gin with natures finest oriental botanicals and gunpowder tea.”
Pictures:
Taste: 6.0 – You get a bit of sweet and citrus at first, and it starts off well enough.
Aftertaste: 7.0 – Later it gets more spice and juniper flavored. The lingering taste is nice though if a bit marred by burning.
Burn/Smooth: 2.5 – There is a burn here, and it sadly overrides too much of the flavor to the pointless of being terrible but more a major distraction.
Aroma: 8.5 – That is a delicious smelling gin. There’s a great mix of botanical and juniper and it’s widespread in the types of flavors without being too focused on one. There’s a bit of flower, of citrus, etc. It doesn’t stick around though and you need to dig in.
Honesty: 4.5 – No clue wtf ‘Gunpowder Tea’ is aside from a colorful euphemism. Regardless the text would be okay, it’s not so bad. As far as booklets go this one isn’t terrible (we’ve had far worse), but we still have to knock it down for being just so much bullcrap. The look though is overall nice, but the ‘oddity’ the ‘jackalope’ just feels like it’s trying so hard.
Mixability: 5.67
W/ Rocks: 5.5 – Considering how much the burn marred this, it felt right to try just on some ice hoping that would shave off the rough edges. Sadly that is not the case, it is much the same.
Gin and Tonic: 6.0 – It’s okay, but it’s also not okay. Because of the way this handles elsewhere and neat this being just slightly above average is the death knell for this gin.
Martini: 5.5 – It is improved over the rocks however with just that tiny bit of vermouth to cut the burn. It’s odd how much it actually shifts, but the main problem is so much of its complexity is lost in doing that.
Value: 1.0 – Nope. No. Sorry. That is double the amount of money. Oh, sure it makes sense given the style and looks. However, given the actual utility of this gin that is far too much.
Google Shop Average: $38
Website: https://drumshanbogunpowderirishgin.com/
Reviewer Scores:
BuffaloJern: 4.0
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Metric Score: 35.17/70 |+| Metric Average: 5.02 |+| Reviewer Average: 4.0
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Final Thoughts: It is truly heartbreaking to have something so unique in the glass marred by some shoddy packaging that’s trying too hard, blemished by not being able to mix well in a cocktail, and completely cocked up by having the burn of the gin be more present than the rest of the gin. Oh well.
