... is for you and why?
MD
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>> Good. More for me.
>>
You can have my share as well. Horrible stuff.
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Roger recommends ALDI or is it LIDL?
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A guy I knew used to make Sloe Gin and insist on any visitors drinking it. Long time ago but I want to remember it was quite nice.
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>> Roger recommends ALDI or is it LIDL?
Just found this favourable review of the Aldi. Some other gin reviews on this site too.
thecocktailgeek.com/review-oliver-cromwell-london-dry-gin/
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Bombay Sapphire, in the blue bottle, by choice - ALDI by necessity!
My Dad, being career Grey Funnel Line, always had Plymouth with a touch of bitters and a splash of water
Last edited by: Roger. on Wed 14 Jan 15 at 11:37
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>> Bombay Sapphire, in the blue bottle, by choice - ALDI by necessity!
I haven't any Bombay, or I'd do a back-to-back comparison - the site I linked to above rates Aldi "Oliver Cromwell" two stars higher than Bombay!
I think I can line up Hendricks if she hasn't supped it all, Aldi, Greenall's and Gordons - I might do a test later!
Bombay was a triumph of marketing from its launch in 1987,and has probably done a lot to revive the gin market. I recall drinking G&T in the mid-70s and people thinking it was a really old-fashioned, or at least an old person's, drink.
But as I said, I don't pretend any great discrimination.
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>> I recall drinking G&T in the mid-70s and people
>> thinking it was a really old-fashioned, or at least an old person's, drink.
That was my take too Manatee. Possibly a class thing too, associated with the military or perhaps hunting/shooting set. Wasn't a regular tipple amongst those my (middle class professional) parents entertained though a few took gin with bitter lemon.
A work Xmas do in early eighties took us to Rules in Covent Garden, a restaurant themed on a gentleman's club. We drank G&T as an aperitif 'cos it seemed in keeping.
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Maybe it's a localised thing because I'm mildly surprised by those who say gin was seen as a drink specific to older people. Growing up in Edinburgh, it was, along with other spirits a fairly common drink among the young. On the contrary though, when I moved to England, I was surprised at the amount of beer drinking relative to other options. Most draft Scottish beer ( or at least that which was readily available when I was younger ) was average at best and that seemed to be the tipple of the older generation. My comtemporaries and I used to favour either continental bottled beers, red wine or spirits including gin and particularly whisky. The girls at the time were into white wine and often Martini type drinks which seem anyway, to have since waned in popularity.
I remember clearly years ago being invited out with my now father in law for a boys night out and being totally astonished at how much and how quickly they got through beer. Almost as if it was a race or competition. Can't see how they enjoyed it at that rate and in those quantities, but maybe I was missing something. I physically couldn't keep up on the sheer volume of liquid and had to switch to short drinks.
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London Dry Gins, I'm a Tanqueray guy myself but its expensive, herself likes Gordons, so we get a bottle when its on rollback at Asda.
Partial to Mahon Gin.
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I'm a vodka man myself, but I have come round to that juniper-berry tang over the years.
Very dry Martinis (made with Noilly Prat) taste pretty nasty to a sweet-toothed person like me. But they get you very smashed in very short order.
I wonder if I can hold out another half-hour before sinking my Bevan Gnashers into the first vodka-naranja of the evening? I'm afraid not. I've just spent half an hour telling the doctor, a nice but very obese lady, about all my addictions, and that has made me very thirsty.
Herself made the appointment out of concern for my lapses of memory, losing the car, forgetting my way around London and even wittering about the roundabouts on the A29 like a mimsing prat. The doctor and I decided I'm going a bit gaga but not very considering the punishment I have handed out to my central nervous system over the years. No need for action yet, we decided. Fingers crossed eh?
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Tanqueray for me too, 10 if possible. Schweppes tonic too; tried Fever Tree last year and found it oversweet as well as overpriced. Or a Negroni to set Saturday night off on the right note, sometimes with Gammel Dansk as the bitter component in place of Campari.
I've been impressed by Hendricks too, but haven't had enough to form a firm view.
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I had a German boss years ago who for some reason or another was a fan of Gammel Dansk, which was odd as he was from Stuttgart, but I digress.
Anyway, he used to pour a shot of it for everyone at breakfast meetings and it was seen as more or less gross insubordination to refuse.
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Bombay Sapphire
or
Plymouth
or
Hendricks (if discounted)
But I much prefer BS.
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>>But I much prefer BS.
Each to his own.
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She says she likes Hendricks; since our son bought her a very smart looking bottle. I thought it was nice too. I don't have a critical preference with gin though, we always drink it with plenty of tonic and it doesn't make much difference.
We're halfway through a bottle of Greenalls. The last two bottles I bought were the Greenalls and some Gordons at about £15 for a litre. I think we have some Aldi "Cromwell's" too. I know we used that for the sloe gin last year and I thought it was OK.
I can only judge by how "ginny" they taste when mixed - I prefer the Gordons to the Greenalls, which is OK but blander; Beefeater seems to have a slightly more grown up bitter edge to it, and if the price was the same I'd buy that. I prefer it to the "BS" too for the same reason. But for my unsophisticated palate it isn't worth paying too much for fancy stuff when I am going to chuck tonic and a slice of lime in it.
A lot of the supermarket stuff, and the Greenalls, is apparently made by www.gjdistillers.com/ in Warrington (also of Vladivar fame).
I think they also make, or at least used to make, Bombay Sapphire; there was a plan by Bacardi to move production to a new distillery but I don't know if that has happened. Not to say that they are all the same of course. Like petrol, it's all about the additive pack!
Last edited by: Manatee on Tue 13 Jan 15 at 18:48
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>I think they also make, or at least used to make, Bombay Sapphire; there was a plan by Bacardi
>to move production to a new distillery but I don't know if that has happened.
They moved to Laverstoke Mill, Overton in October. Not very far from us.
distillery.bombaysapphire.com/
Anyone know how much 5 miles of plastic pipe would cost?
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>> Anyone know how much 5 miles of plastic pipe would cost?
Sorry mush, its Baijiu (白酒) for you from now on.
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With Zero on this one.
Xoriguer gin from Mahon in Menorca; best drunk in paper cups diluted 40:60 with Menorquin lemonade (very akin to a sweetish bitter lemon) while watching the young men dodging the hooves of prancing horses in the square in Cuitadella for the fiesta of St Juan. Aaaah, memories......
Then Bombay Sapphire followed by Gordon's.
Ironically, considering it is a country with a large majority of the population being of the Muslim faith, I find the generic Turkish Cin is quite palatable.
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We were always happy to drink Bombay Sapphire which was usually available at duty free outlets, then we discovered Plymouth and shifted our allegiance to that, though it wasn't so common at duty free.
After reading this, tinyurl.com/cz8yvlk.
we tried Aldi's Oliver Cromwell, and it has now overtaken Bombay Sapphire as our second favourite. It's cheap and readily available.
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Bombay Sapphire or Plymouth for preference, Tanqureay another possible. Not that keen on the Aldi one.
TBH I think abv is a big factor. A lot of the big brands have gone from 40% to 37.5% or less. Never found one at that level that hits the spot. Thank the Lord that UK government ensured Scotch was not allowed to go down that road.
Only really drink G&T around Xmas. Mrs B's late Uncle Pete, who traditionally hosted Boxing Day, was given to pouring the gin very generously indeed. Maybe that's where my taste buds got led astray.
Last edited by: Bromptonaut on Tue 13 Jan 15 at 18:18
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Good point, Bromp. Before we discovered Tanqueray, our favourite was export-strength Gordon's, in a clear bottle at, I think, 47.5%. Noticeably more punch than the green bottle.
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Export strength Bombay Sapphire for me.
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The former Mrs w is a gin connoisseur - I drove her to it apparently. Her day to day favourite is Gordon's, but when funds allow Bombay Sapphire or Tanqueray.
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I can't really recommend, but can't resist mentioning just to show off, a wide range of third-world 'native gins' all of which I have sampled, cautiously after a couple of bad experiences. Mostly African and some far from palatable, but invariably powerful when not actually toxic. Had one that definitely was, chang'aa in Kenya I think. You wouldn't want to consume much of that.
Tried three different hellbrews in Nigeria, one in Ghana, one in Kenya, two in Tanzania, one in Uganda, one or two in Chad... and some very fine bootleg Trinidadian cane spirit, sort of super-rum that evaporates off your lips as you sip it, in London. Might there have been some homemade wine in Oz? I think so.
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Bombay Sapphire, then Gordon's, for SWMBO and me too.
I blame a lab mate from my postgrad days for introducing me to the stuff. He, in turn, blamed his elderly relatives who used to drink him under the table on the stuff when he'd visit them :-)
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Depends what you are going to have with it.
Beefeater is for gin and tonic
Plymouth for pink gin (little bit of Angostura bitters added)
Gordons is for the kids - (37.5 ABV only). Export is stronger and ok.
Some of the others are ok too, but I don't rate Bombay Sapphire. There is quite a lot of dross at the cheaper end of the market.
Sloes are best used to make Sloe Vodka - but cut down on the sugar as it makes it far too sweet. And, don't drink it late at night too, as you'll never get to sleep, the sloe content is a stimulant.
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Tanqueray and Hendricks.
Hendricks is Scottish and their website makes me think they cut it with absinthe.
uk.hendricksgin.com/
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Ah yes absinthe, makes you cut your ears off...
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"yes absinthe, makes you cut your ears off..."
absinthe makes your heart grow stronger
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>> Hendricks is Scottish and their website makes me think they cut it with absinthe.
I see what you mean. And they can't spell minuscule.
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>> And they can't spell minuscule
Or they're simply future-proofing the website
www.oxforddictionaries.com/words/minuscule-or-miniscule
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Confession time.
Went to some elderly relatives place over the chrissy holiday. I was offered Sherry. The infamous Harveys Bristol Cream no less. I know I have had some in some distant memory of the past, probably during some moment at a session when it was all that was left in someones booze cabinet.
You know, I actually enjoyed it and had another.
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>.. Harveys Bristol Cream...
>You know, I actually enjoyed it and had another.
Probably an age-related thing.
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That made me think of my old mum and made me feel a bit sad. For me Harvey's Bristol Cream is truly the taste of Christmas Past
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>> You know, I actually enjoyed it and had another.
>> Probably an age-related thing.
Decent Oloroso sherry, nothing to complain about.
I've been tippling some run-of-the-mill but not bad port for about the last week late at night. I like sugary scheiss.
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Going through Gatwick later in the month. Last time they had litre bottles of 47.5% proof Gordons @ £11 so that will do me if they are still doing it!
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Very much enjoy La Guita sherry (very dry - about £4 per 37.5cl at Costco) over an ice cube or two.
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I'm intrigued by those saying 'Bombay Sapphire or Tanqueray.' I'm a Tanqueray fellow; and find BS very insubstantial. BS is floral; T is big and bold with loads of juniper (surely the point of gin!).
Lidl's Green gin I find quite similar to T, and it is my gin of choice (given it's less than half the price (for three quarters of the alcohol admittedly).
T's no 10 is revolting, IMO. It bears no resemblance whatsoever to ordinary T. It's too sweet.
La Guita, Lygonos, isn't *strictly* a sherry, it's a Manzanilla, coming as it does from Sanlucar de Barrameda, the next town along. If you're into sherries, try the Pastrana (an aged Manzanilla) which is currently £11 in Sainsbury's.
Refrigerate it, rather than serving it over ice, unless circumstances are desperate!
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I can remember when Bombay Saphire first came out. Its two USPs were that it was cheap and it came in a distinctive bottle. It has since then be pushed up market, for what reason I don't know because it certainly does not justify the price differential over Gordons.
Sainsbury has their Blackfriars Gin on special offer (its made by greenalls) 13 quid for 70cl.
Would have bought some but her indoors overruled me ( she was paying)
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I see you can get Bombay Sapphire for £17.50 and Gordons for £15 from the same on line supplier. The difference in price I would think is due to the alcoholic strength BS is 40% and Gordons 37.5%
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I bought my BS at £18/liter - Sainsbury's pre Xmas offer.
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Waitrose 37.5% 12 quid slightly-less-cheapo vodka, OK. I prefer the Tesco equivalent which is only £11.50, has a pretty transparent bottle label and seems less toxic, but there it is. Life's only perfect sometimes.
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>> I bought my BS at £18/liter - Sainsbury's pre Xmas offer.
Not worth buying spirits in France anymore, at least not international brands like BS. IIRC it was north of 25Euro a bottle in Carrefour at Cite Europe just before Xmas.
Might have been cheaper in the Eurotunnel terminal at Calais but we were on a wing/prayer there hoping to sneak onto an earlier shuttle as we did on way out.
OTOH there was a reasonable choice/prices of Calvados and various other French products, not all of which are sold in UK. .
Last edited by: Bromptonaut on Wed 14 Jan 15 at 18:22
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>> of which are sold in UK. .
Gordons is usually on special aboard the aircraft. 2 x 1 litre = 20 quid.
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>> Gordons is usually on special aboard the aircraft. 2 x 1 litre = 20 quid.
Pretty rare we fly anywhere. Whichever is cheaper from Chunnel or Ferry. Usually it's the ferry but Eurotunnel do some cracking deals for day/overnight outwith the season.
£30 each way the week before Xmas. Out at 08:00 on Thursday, back 17:00 on Friday.
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I've given up on Duty Free at airports Too much hassle. The few quid you save doesn't seem worth the effort of carting the stuff around especially since I try to travel as light as possible. if I take the car abroad that's another matter and I buy what I want at the local supermarket. Don!t bother with those enormous sheds near the channel ports.
Last edited by: CGNorwich on Wed 14 Jan 15 at 19:12
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You can buy on the outboard leg, but pick them up on the way home. I'm pretty sure it was the case last time I flew.
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>> You can buy on the outboard leg, but pick them up on the way home.
>> I'm pretty sure it was the case last time I flew.
Buy them on the outwards leg and drink them on holiday!
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>> >> You can buy on the outboard leg, but pick them up on the way
>> home.
>> >> I'm pretty sure it was the case last time I flew.
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>> Buy them on the outwards leg and drink them on holiday!
>>
Not if it's just as cheap or cheaper when you arrive on holiday :-)
Last edited by: sooty123 on Wed 14 Jan 15 at 19:41
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>> Not if it's just as cheap or cheaper when you arrive on holiday :-)
I was thinking that too sooty. Duty free on board is more expensive as a rule than ordinary measures over the bar in Spain.
Place we went last time was Montilla, where the local wine is 14 or 15%. Some cousins-in-law have a modest place there. What the locals drink in the bar is called 'un fino', a smallish glass of the dry sherry equivalent, not expensive even at grockle rates.... Strangely harmless if you don''t do too much, headachey if you do.
Jerez is a province adjoining Montilla. Its wines didn't have the natural oomph of Montilla's products, leading the jealous Jerez producers to add brandy to 'fortify' them. Dunno how true that is these days, but the old man who drank and liked sherry (my mother did too) told me so.
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>>Jerez is a province adjoining Montilla. Its wines didn't have the natural oomph of Montilla's
>>products, leading the jealous Jerez producers to add brandy to 'fortify' them.
Dunno how true it is that it was jealousy that incentivised them to fortify it; but fortification (with clear white spirit, not brandy) continues to be a part of the process.
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We went to Jerez, a good few years ago now of course, on a day trip organised by the Foreign Residents Dept. of the local Town Hall.
Highlight for me was a trip around Sandeman's Bodega where we sampled the nicest sherry I've ever had - Dry Don. It's on the dry+ side of medium, but interestingly almost unknown in Spain and rarer than tits on a bull in the shops there. I've never found it in supermarkets in the UK, either.
Highlight for SWMBO was a visit to the dancing horses in the riding school
( www.realescuela.org/en/ )
Although we lived not much more than 50/70 km away we only went once in 10 years.
Last edited by: Roger. on Thu 15 Jan 15 at 11:36
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I tend to buy BS at duty free on various trips throughout the year, although tbh I drink so little spirits that it would make little difference costwise. Always nice to save a few quid though.
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Opened a bottle of gordons this evening. It was bought on a ryanair flight for a tenner, and I've just realised that its 47% and not the usual 37.5%.
To be honest it tastes like paint stripper. Think its back to my usual Bombay sapphire.
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>> To be honest it tastes like paint stripper.
Needs more ice/tonic :-)
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The 37.5% gordons is a nice balance
(plus you can give yourself doubles or trebles!!!!!!)
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>> The 37.5% gordons is a nice balance
But not as nice a balance as it was at 40%. Reduction in strength of spirits is same game as reducing weight of Christmas chocolate boxes.
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>> To be honest it tastes like paint stripper. Think its back to my usual Bombay
>> sapphire.
The Gordon's is more ginny. Bombay isn't unpleasant but it is quite bland.
Last edited by: Manatee on Sat 17 Jan 15 at 00:32
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More juniper berries in Gordons, but the cutting of the strength ruined it for me.
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Someone bought me a bottle of Lochan Ora for Xmas (whisky liqueur).
www.thewhiskyexchange.com/P-5241.aspx
Rather delicious little number straight (35% alc).
Reviews are invariably good.
Last edited by: Lygonos on Sat 17 Jan 15 at 11:33
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One of my locals has begun stocking a range of gin(s)? Whilst suppin beer there tonight I saw the latest. Bedrock gin from Cumbria. Never heard of it, but put my name down for a gin tasting session next month, hosted by someone familiar with the stuff. My knowledge of gin is very limited. I buy it at duty free and start throwing it down my neck at 5pm when in warmer climes. Sharpens the appetite. If I can be bothered dining after several large ones..
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I rather like Tanqueray 10 myself.
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Can't abide the stuff, a good malt however...............................
Found some Port Ellen yesterday, only £1300 a bottle. Last time I bought some it was only forty quid.
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Try a decent Norfolk Malt Whisky.
Much nicer than that Scottish stuff
www.englishwhisky.co.uk/
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Nearly finished the classy Polish vodka, which should be drunk without any sort of mixer or pollutant.
Six small hits after dinner tonight, just now actually. Much appreciated by six people, most of all by me.
Still got a couple of slugs left in the fridge. The bottle's good too, dark blue with a very thick heavy bottom.
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We tried 'Hampstead' from Lidl. Ruddy AWFUL sweet muck. Nearly put us off, but we'll Percy vere.
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>> We tried 'Hampstead' from Lidl. Ruddy AWFUL sweet muck. Nearly put us off, but we'll
>> Percy vere.
Agreed. It's horrid.
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Which Gin... - smokie
