Review: Stockholms Bränneri Oak Gin

20171126_122229As I have written here before, Stockholms Bränneri is one of absolutely favorite producers of gin in Sweden. I don’t always like cask aged gin but when Stockholms Bränneri released their version I needed to try it of course. 

But I wasn’t the only one who wanted to try it, the first batch with 456 bottles was released in a before announced time on line, and it sold out in less then 5 minutes! I had set an alarm so I wouldn´t miss it but I didn’t think that I needed to be that fast, so I did miss it.

When batch number 2 was released i was really fast, and I got my hands on a bottle, actually bottle number 1 in batch 2. 

Anna and Calle from Stockholms Bränneri recommend that you drink it with ice and orange zest. Generally, I prefer to sip gin room temperature. And of course, I need to try it in a Dry Martini, even though cask aged gin is rarely suited for that. 

It’s the same beautiful bottle as on the regular Dry Gin but it´s now transparent. The label looks basically the same, very stylish and with some of the information hand written on it. It´s now pale yellow instead of the white original. The cork has a stylish wooden top. 

The content is quite different though, sure some of the character is recognized from the original but the two extra botanicals and the cask has made a really different touch. It also have a higher ABV than the original, 45% instead of 40%. 

They describe this gin as:

Our OAK gin is distilled with orange peel and long pepper, and has rested on bourbon barrels to bring a smooth marriage between the classic gin tones with orange and the vanilla tones from the bourbon casks. We call this gin a sipping gin, best enjoyed neat on ice.”

Tasting Notes

Nose

  • Strong with a smooth scent, orange and pepper is very noticeable with some juniper after. No typical signs of cask ageing but I detect some sweetness. 

Neat

  • Very smooth. Some cask character in the after taste, no alcohol burn. Also, here is orange and pepper quite clearly and a feeling of sweetness. Small taste of juniper. Very pleasant to enjoy neat, I don’t follow SB’s recommendation to drink it with ice and orange zest, I rather enjoy it like this.

Martini

  • It’s a bit harder to make a good martini with this gin, make sure to keep everything very cold. I used 5 cl gin to 0.5 cl Dolin Vermouth, stir with lots of ice and serve with a small orange zest. 
  • You’ll get a nice, smooth taste where orange, pepper and juniper mixes together. It has a long and soft after taste.
  • A real pleasure, for the first sip I closed my eyes and just relaxed and enjoyed. An amazing Dry Martini!

Gin and Tonic

  • No! Don’t go there. This is gin made for sipping and it works beautiful in cocktails, but don’t use it for a G&T. 

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The Take Home

What to say?! I love the regular Stockholms Bränneri Dry Gin, this is even better and possibly the absolute best cask aged gin I ever had.

5/5 stars feels low, if you have the chance to buy this, do it!

Cheers!

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