Once upon a time, when I was young, I got very drunk on gin, was very ill, and vowed that I would never touch the stuff again (not alcohol, just gin!).
Years later, when I discovered that I was going to be an expatriate, I decided that I should hold the British end up and learn to drink Gin & Tonic at the very least. So began my real relationship with Gin.
I have tried many gins, some good, some bad, and was introduced to Tanqueray by American friends.
Tanqueray is a London Dry Gin (the London Dry bit refers to the style of the distillation process, not to where the Gin is produced) and it is 47.3% alcohol. This is a high alcohol level, most gins being around the 40% mark. Interestingly, the EU legal minimum alcohol level for gin is 37.5%.
The Tanqueray bottle is easily distinguished. It is green with a white label and white top. It is a round bottle with a glass ‘belt’ towards the top (stops the bottle slipping out of your hand).
Like all gins, Tanqueray is clear.
I find the smell of Tanqueray quite distinctive, but then I’ve been around a few gin bottles in my time. The primary aroma is, of course, juniper which is the primary botanical in all gins. Unfortunately, I do not have the nose to identify the other aromas and, frankly, I’d rather drink it than smell it.
I also find the taste distinctive but delicate, and remarkably like the smell. How often have you sniffed something to find that it tastes quite different to what you expected? Despite the high alcohol level, Tanqueray is also remarkably smooth, it does not ‘hit home’ it glides down elegantly.
How to drink it? In time honoured fashion with tonic is always a good place to start. Fill a tall glass with ice, add your measure of Tanqueray, squeeze in some fresh lime, top up the glass with tonic water, then run the lime round the rim of the glass.
There must be hundreds of ways to drink gin. I confess I like my Tanqueray as a very dry martini (you just show the gin the vermouth bottle), and I use other gins for other cocktails.
In my opinion Tanqueray deserves its reputation as one of, if not the best London Dry Gins. My last 70cl bottle cost me £16.99. A 70cl bottle should give you a dozen 2oz shots.
Bottoms up!
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