You probably think you’re a true man’s man if your go-to drink is a scotch or whiskey. A nice pour, maybe an ice cube, nothing beats it. And you don’t usually branch out from that. We get it: stick with your brown spirits and nothing bad can happen.
Gin has never fallen into that category before but that’s about to change.
Lately, brands have been taking a page from the whiskey playbook and started to barrel-age gin. Over the past couple of years, small distilleries have been releasing limited edition brown gins, aka barrel-aged. The gin is usually aged for at least six months in a wooden cask resulting in a rich, oaky taste that’s quite different from the classic botanical gin flavor. It’s works well in most gin and whiskey cocktails, or you can drink it straight up.
Since barrel-aged gin is new, it’s mostly craft distilleries that are putting them out. We suggest Roundhouse Spirits Imperial Gin, which has been aged for 10 months giving it whiskey-like flavors and the nickname “Ginskey.” Any booze with a nickname like that is going in our liquor cabinet. Others that are worth tasting: Rusty Blade, Corsair Distillery, Breuckelen Gin and Smooth Ambler. Some of these might be hard to find but are worth the effort.
We know some of you are shaking your heads at the thought of sipping on gin. Relax. We’re not saying barrel-aged gin is about to replace your precious scotch or whiskey. We’re telling you to man up and try some. Now that’s its a brown spirit, you have no excuse.