Another bad habit - Lovin' fine Saffron Gin!
Written: Aug 04 '08 (Updated Aug 04 '08)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Strong saffron taste and a cool collected look.
Cons: It's another type of alcohol to love...
The Bottom Line: Anyone wanting a Gin with a twist will appreciate a bottle of Gabriel Boudier Saffron Gin.
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| cr01's Full Review: Gabriel Boudier Saffron Gin |
I fondly remember the mother of a good friend, a very proper English lady who at 5:45 each afternoon would pour herself a generous Gin and Tonic and sit it on the occasional table in the sitting room ready to accompany her viewing of the BBC early evening news. This is the woman, who every day for decades enjoyed a slice and a half of toast for lunch. She was a creature of habit indeed.
I have never taken to the traditional Gin and Tonic, although it is a quintessentially British drink, and a throwback to old colonial India. The quinine in tonic originally helped deter malaria, while the Gin made the bitter tonic palatable. So it feels most odd that in my middle years, I have suddenly found myself enjoying the occasional Gin & Tonic, albeit via the French Gabriel Boudier Saffron Gin.
Although obviously primarily built for tasting, the look of the gin is inviting. I appreciate that orange and slightly deep golden look of saffron. I personally adore the taste of Saffron, and always look forward to eating my own made spicy saffron rice, or a simple Colombian dish of potatoes and cheese, cooked in a tomato, garlic, saffron and thyme sauce.
Unsurprisingly, the taste of the gin is deeply Saffron, but the gin also contains a slightly tangy mix of Juniper, Coriander, Lemon, Orange peel, Angelica, Iris and Fennel. It actually smells more like a fragrance than an alcoholic drink. I keep on thinking that the gin would help make a fantastically rich saffron sauce, perhaps sloshed over a couple of fine fish steaks, or in a risotto during cooking, but I have yet to try it.
Although I can and do drink traditional Polish or Russian Vodka neat occasionally, I do find this Gin a little too overpowering even on the rocks. It tastes like some saffron flavoured concentrate, and is just too intense. Instead, I enjoy my Saffron Gin simply with a little tonic water, just so I can dilute the taste, but keep it fairly pure. The result is flavorsome, mature and distinctive.
The taste of the Gin is so strong; I can dilute my drink heavily, and reduce the 40% alcohol content to more manageable levels. I’m sure the more adventurous will mix this saffron gin into a cocktail (the idea of having the Saffron Gin with strawberries sounds particularly inviting), but then I prefer the purer tastes.
Gin does give me something of a hangover, so I try to limit myself to just one cool slug in a long glass during an evening.
Gabriel Boudier first made cassis in French Dijon in the 1870’s. Marcel Battault bought out the firm sixty years later, but is still owned and run by his descendents. The firm is also still based in Dijon, although it now makes a number of alcoholic drinks.
Gabriel Boudier’s Saffron Gin is made in limited numbers in a micro distillery. My bottle was a birthday present from my beloved, but in the UK it costs around £20 ($40) a bottle, almost double the price of a bottle of standard Gin.
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My Saffron Gin is a French Find, and as such, fits nicely into Barbara’s annual write off. Go and find out more information and join in the fun!
cr01 asserts his right to be associated as the author of this review -2008-
Recommended:
Yes
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cr01
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Member: Chris
Location: Yorkshire, England
Reviews written: 442
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In snowy Yorkshire. Dusting down the Sledge.
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