Thorn is another gin from Vilnius Degtine, whose flagship product is Vilnius Gin. Thorn is said to be “small batch” product with at least dill and orange peel added to basic gin herbs. It’s bottled with wooden cork and have label with english texts, which is quite rare for Lithuanian products. It’s targeted to export markets and is on sale at least in scandinavian countries and Holland. Bottled to 40% strength, price for 70cl/9.99€ at Norfa/Lithuania.
Aroma is thin, only hint of juniper and lemon is noticeable. Taste have a bit sweetness, there are some traditional gin flavours but them are on moderate level. Dill and orange peel which are written on the label are missing. Burn is quite strong and there is some bitterness on aftertaste. Overall it is very light gin, I was expecting much more on this “small patch” but unfortunately Vilnius Degtine have decided to focus more on price than quality. Anyway it is slightly better than their Vilnius Gin, but as export product, even the price is very low I do not see much potential.
73/100
We Lithuanians mostly consume Gin in cocktails. I personally do not know anyone who drinks it raw. Of course Thorn is no match for something like Beefeater or Gibson’s but it us still decent enough to make a good Gin & Tonic.
There’s also a Pink version available.
Yes, for Gin&Tonic it is really the same which gin you use, the difference of taste will be minimal. Thorn is cheap and decent gin, so it is good choice if drink only long cocktails like G&T. I do not drink gin either so much neat, but to review them it is indispensable, to compare how much taste it really have, is it balanced etc.