Tallinn based The Hope Distillery is the latest addition to the fast growing group of Estonian craft distilleries. The company bottled its first product for sale on January 1st, 2022. The Hope Distillery immediately launched three bottles under their Gindome brand; Viking Dry Gin, Mermaid Navy Gin and Old Tom Gin. During the next months, The Hope Distillery’s products will go on sale to specialty stores, restaurants and ferry stores sailing between Tallinn and Helsinki. Currently, the best way to buy Gindome products is the distillery’s own online store www.thehopedistillery.eu, where a 50 cl bottle costs 30€. By adding the code balticalcohols25 to your shopping cart, you will receive a -25% discount!
Viking Dry Gin base spirit is made from organic rye, grown and distilled in Estonia. All herbs and botanicals used, are both locally picked and sourced from the world. Total of 11 different botanicals have been used, including also a few rather exotic ones. The main botanicals are angelica root, orris root, coriander seeds, lemon peel and juniper berry, of which locally picked (from Saaremaa island) and also from the Mediterranean and Italy have been used. Licorice root, nutmeg and grain of paradise are also quite familiar ingredients in different gins, but Gindome chases an original flavor by using radish, rowanberry and chaga. All of these ingredients are macerated, distilled or steam distilled. Viking Gin is London Dry-style, meaning that nothing but water has been added to it after distillation.
Despite the high alcohol level (47% ABV), the nose does not have strong ethanol vapor, but is light and smooth, slightly sweet. There are juniper and coriander, in the background also some earthy aroma of some root. The taste is strong and dry, when sipping it neat I can now really feel the strong alcohol level. The strong burn and heavily bitter herbiness is a little too much. A small addition of water or ice cube in the glass smoothes the burn and gives more space to the botanicals. The taste is heavy on traditional gin herbs, juniper berry, coriander, cinnamon etc, but none of them dominate too much, the taste is well balanced and rich. Despite the rather exotic ingredients on the list, Viking Dry Gin still has a fairly traditional flavor profile.
Like the producer also suggests, Viking Dry Gin is at its best in cocktails. Like usual, I tried it with both soda water and tonic water. With soda water, the taste stays dry, spicy and even too bitter, it lacks some balancing element (maybe a splash of sugar syrup and slice of lemon). However, with tonic water (preferably on a sweeter side) Gindome really shines. It makes really tasty and powerful G & T, which is full of different aromas and spices. Strong and a bit robust, but still very well balanced. For sure it will work nicely also in other gin cocktails. Gindome Viking Dry is powerful and vigorous gin. It is a good example for a quality which an enthusiastic craft distillery can reach nowadays.
89/100
