Bend, Oregon. July, 2018
The very idea of drinking straight, room temperature gin from a glass put me off. But, in the adventurous spirit of the traveling taster, and since I was in Bend, I knew there was some gin sipping on the horizon. It had to be the local brew because there is so much Juniper, the essential ingredient for gin’s distinct flavor and aroma, growing wild all around eastern Oregon. With all that juniper there for the taking, how could they not make gin?
So, along with my caution, I swallowed my first sip.
I am not, in general, a fan of gin. I usually prefer my martini with vodka. But on a hot day, a gin and tonic with a lime wedge on ice can be damned good medicine. With that in mind I allowed the gin to perfume its way around my mouth, drifting up into my head. It conjured up images of the high desert, stretching out to dusky purple sunset skies, and local distillers kicking up puffs of dry dirt as they plucked from the junipers to infuse their gin. This gin was a devastatingly gorgeous femme fatale with an Oregon juniper flower in her hair, singing in my guts like some boozy old west Lana Del Rey.
I mentioned this to the owner, as well as my affection for any booze that is local, and she let me know that in fact they use juniper from the east coast instead, so that it will taste better.
My heart sank.
To be totally fair, they do use “some” Oregon pine and sage to give it “a hint of Northwest flavor.” I wanted to give it more points because, honestly, it is god damned delicious. But since the traveling taster’s credo is all about the local stuff, I had to take one point off for ruining my fantasy. I still tip my hat to them for making an amazing gin. Also for somehow convincing me that a glass of straight gin can be a good thing.
Sip score = 4/5