old thoughts on Bull Dog
Bulldog Gin is
40%abv / 80proof and is new from England. It was just released a few
months ago and only available so far in New
York and Georgia in the US, with a
release in a few other states sometime in early 2007. It comes in a solid black
bottle with what looks like a spiked collar around its neck, trying to make a
bulldog impression I would guess. Their website won’t be up until 11/15/06 so I am having a
tough time getting much information on it. There was some hype on the bottle
associating it with its namesake and saying that some of the botanicals are
juniper, poppy, dragon eye (longan fruit, similar to lychee fruit), and citrus.
I started off with a small amount in a small brandy snifter. It had an
alcoholic nose with a slight, but very complex perfume of juniper and floral
notes and the longan is evident in back with a sweet and musky note blended
with the barest hint of citrus. I sniffed and sniffed the aroma for several
minutes trying to pin it down and had to stop as I got a head rush from the
vapors. This gin has a very light aroma and I realized that I was enjoying
myself before I even took a sip. So I did, and my first thought it was perfumed
water. This is a gin for vodka lovers. It is very light with a first impression
of spring water freshness. Then you get an alcohol burn on your tongue with a
flashing hint of juniper. Surprisingly the other botanicals I struggled to find
in the aroma really don’t show through in the taste at all. When I tried it
with water and on the rocks a bit more flavor came out but nothing to brag about.
While this gin is pleasant it didn’t do much for me because it was so light in
flavor, more like a vodka wishing it was a gin, and not the real deal. When I
drink gin I want to damn well know that’s what I am doing, with no messing
around. This bulldog reminds me more of a puppy that will never grow up to play
with the big dogs.
