Empress 1908 Gin

Empress 1908 Gin is micro-distilled in small batch copper-pot stills, Empress 1908 is hand-crafted using eight signature botanicals: tea, juniper, rose, coriander seed, grapefruit peel, ginger root, cinnamon bark, and butterfly pea blossom. It’s the pea blossom, which we discovered in one of the Empress tea blends, that imbues the gin with a distinctive earthy note.

Empress 1908 Gin is more classic in character than the color suggests. Big bold juniper and heady citrus make up the majority of its aroma. Though hints of a plastic medical aroma, a touch of ethanol make the nose a bit more raw. Despite the lack of refinement around the edges, blind tasters might not think this gin was bright purple.

The palate has a hint of rose early. If you’re looking for an overtly floral gin— this isn’t it. Ripe, boiled grapefruit, resinous juniper cones take hold mid-palate.

Towards the finish, earthy coriander, green tea, and bulky, dry cinnamon (with no red hot character) stew on the edges of the palate. Radiant heat from the base spirit gives these notes some length— but warmth is the primary character that remains after sipping.

Empress 1908 Gin is rather by the numbers as far as palate goes. The citrus is big and dominant, and for that reason it leans contemporary.