Review – Voyager Gin

When I was at Tales of the Cocktail in July I met Steven Williams one of the reps from Pacific Distillery located in Woodinville, WA.  We struck up a conversation and I was intrigued to hear that they had recently released a new gin.  When Steven heard that I was from Colorado we reached an agreement.  I would send them a bottle of Leopold Brother’s Gin and in return I’d get a bottle of their new Voyager gin.

I followed up on my end of the deal and my bottle of Voyager arrived shortly after my shipment headed West.  Naturally, I didn’t waste any time in opening it.  Voyager is a small batch gin distilled in alembic copper pot stills.  The botanicals used are pretty traditional as their bottle points out.  They include juniper, coriander, licorice root, cardamom, anise seed, lemon, orange, orris, angelica, and cassia.  In the aroma you’ll first pick up the juniper, followed by citrus, orange primarily, and hints of the other botanicals.  Overall a tremendously pleasing start to my tasting.

As you take your sip the first thing you’re going to notice is a very light subtle sweetness.  Then the botanicals start to come out.  The cardamom comes through first accompanied by the expected citrus and juniper.  This gin isn’t boldly junipery but rather blends the flavors of all the botanicals very evenly.  I think it would work tremendously well in a Ramos Gin Fizz or a Martini.  Basically you want a recipe where the gin can really shine through.

Finally, I circle back to the subtle sweetness of this gin.  It’s really a pleasing twist and I find myself wanting to simply sip on this gin neat which is certainly something I can’t say about most gins.  In summary this is a great gin that you should definitely look at picking up if it’s available in your area.

† The product reviewed here was provided to me as a free sample.  If you’re wondering what that means check out my sample policy.