This is a gin.
We debated adding more to that statement above the fold, maybe providing more information. We didn’t though, because in fairness there isn’t much more to add. This is a gin. It’s not a great gin, or a bad one. It’s slightly above average, has the classic kind of look, and it does well in a G&T. We’re not obligated to say more, so let’s move on.
What they Say: “The British Gin Act of 1751 (infamously portrayed in William Hogarth’s iconic GIN LANE engraving) is an important landmark in the history of gin production. It marked the beginning of the long historic journey towards becoming the reformed spirit of the 21st Century and the classic spirit we enjoy today.
Our beautifully crafted family of GIN LANE 1751 gins is of classic Victorian style originating in an age when there was a bold predominance of juniper berries with hints of liquorice. For your edification we have created a well-balanced complex gin on 8 natural botanicals, spiked with the refreshing maceration of Mediterranean citrus fruits.
We are proud to present GIN LANE 1751, masterfully blended by eighth generation London distiller, Mr. Charles Maxwell.”
Taste: 6.0 – Starts of like a nice light, but very juniper heavy gin.
Aftertaste: 5.0 – The easiest way to describe this goes like this. ‘It’s not a bad gin, but it’s a gin at full-force’. It carries on for quite a while and man does it hit like a brick. If you are looking for a GIN, then you’ve found it, and by that measure we can’t knock it too hard.
Burn/Smooth: 5.0 – This does not burn at all really. However swallowing a brick isn’t ‘smooth’ either.
Aroma: 6.5 – That smells pretty spot on for a London dry gin. As such while we’d like to give it a 5 – the actual average is (sadly) always a bit lower.
Honesty: 8.5 – The look is straight out of any period piece made after the year 1751, and that’s a good thing. The history lesson is okay, and they don’t go too wanky (despite the use of long-words). And they end it with the distiller’s name ‘Charles Maxwell’ which is just so gentlemanly British it’s painful.
Mixability: 6.167
Martini: 6.0 – It makes a more than halfway decent martini, but nothing to write home about.
Gin and Tonic: 7.5 – If we had a genie with 3 wishes, one of them would be that no bars gin and tonic would be below this.
Red Baron: 5.0 – The train is sadly deeply lost here in the skies. (Sorry we had too). Which is kind of sad really.
Value: 5.5– This puts it in the firing range of many other gins (we promise we’ll get our stats page updated soon to help with this.) While this might be a perfect bar addition – it does more in making us curious for the other special versions of this gin instead.
Google Shop Average: $25
Website: http://www.ginlane1751.com/
Reviewer Scores:
BuffaloJern: 6.0
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Metric Score: 42.67/70 |+| Metric Average: 6.09 |+| Reviewer Average: 6.0
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Final Thoughts: The main issue with this gin however is that unless you bought it on a whim, or are a review site – you’d never buy it, and you probably never should. You can buy this for aesthetic or to try, but there’s nothing here that really stands out.
