Waterloo Antique Gin Review & Tasting Notes

 


This review was originally published on July 1, 2019, at Bourbon & Banter


BOTTLE DETAILS

  • DISTILLER: Treaty Oak Distilling
  • MASH BILL: Undisclosed
  • AGE: NAS
  • YEAR: 2018
  • PROOF: 94 Proof (47% ABV)
  • MSRP: $29.99

 

NOSE:  Floral Perfume  |  Honeysuckle  |  Herbal Essence

 

TASTE:  Vanilla  |  Nutmeg  |  Herbal Essence  |  Mild Spice

 

FINISH:  Long and lasting. Very herbal and slightly sweet.

 

SHARE WITH:  People who are scared to drink gin or folks who really love gin. But, not me.

 

WORTH THE PRICE:  I wouldn't buy this for my home bar, but I'm also not a gin drinker.

 

BOTTLE, BAR, OR BUST:  I'm rating this a Bar, but only because I didn't chew on a Christmas tree, and it is honestly different from any other gin I've tried.

 

OVERALL:  I am Whiskeyfellow. I am not Ginfellow, and despite the fact that there are two hilarious videos of me drinking Malort at the time of this review, I am most definitely not Malortfellow. I review whiskey; it is what I know, it is what I enjoy, and it is my niche. However, there’s this whole damned #DrinkCurious lifestyle that I’ve honestly embraced.

 

I will be perfectly transparent before I even pour Treaty Oak’s Waterloo Antique Gin into my glass. I don’t just dislike gin; I hate it. Gin was my dad’s drink. He loved Gibson martinis, straight up, with a hint of vermouth. My hating gin has nothing to do with my father; I’m just saying this because I’ve been around gin much of my life. I’ve tried many gins from many distillers, and I’m going on record stating that I have never found one I like. They all taste like grabbing a Christmas tree branch and brushing my teeth with it.

 

When the folks at Treaty Oak Distilling told me they were including a sample of their Waterloo Antique Gin in a sample package of whiskeys, I told them not to bother. I essentially explained all of the above. I was told they would send it anyway because this would be the gin that would change my mind about gin.

 

So, I’m back to this #DrinkCurious thing that occasionally gets me in trouble (such as drinking Malort twice). I am going to give this an honest, impartial attempt. I also have no idea what I’m doing regarding gin reviewing, so I’ll treat this exactly like I would a whiskey review and use the same process.

 

I’ve now poured the Waterloo Antique Gin in my Glencairn glass. While letting it sit, I’ll share some background on what makes this gin different. It is aged for two years in new, #3-charred oak barrels “under the hot Texas sun.” Treaty Oak claims this is the oldest-aged gin on the market. Not being a gin expert, I’ll take that statement at face value.

 

In my glass, the gin was very similar to a younger whiskey. It was a lighter amber, and if you handed me the glass, I’d have told you it was whiskey. It left a skinny rim on the wall, creating thin, slow legs to drop back to the pool.

 

The solid floral perfume dominated my nosing experience. I expected to smell juniper; if it was there, it wasn’t coming past the flowers. Inhaling through my lips didn’t bring any juniper, either. That, also, was sweet flowers, what I would describe as honeysuckle. There was a milder herbal essence beneath the honeysuckle.

 

The mouthfeel was thin and watery. I picked up vanilla and nutmeg up a very nice front. But, in the middle was that typical ginny herbal quality that I just didn’t enjoy at all. On the back was a mild spice, but it was utterly overwhelmed by that damned herbal taste.

 

The finish was very long and lasted several minutes. And, as I’m not a fan of the herbal quality, it lasted much longer than I wanted. It did eventually taper off from herbal to sweet and was slightly warming as it went down my throat.

 

Did Waterloo Antique Gin live up to the promise that it would forever change my opinion of gin? It is a different gin from what I’ve tasted and more mellow than I’ve had. But this didn’t turn me into a gin fan, and I would never consider buying a bottle, much less ordering this at a bar, regardless of my Bar rating. In fact, I still hate gin. Back to whiskey. Cheers!

 

 

 

My Simple, Easy-to-Understand Rating System

  • Bottle = Buy It
  • Bar = Try It
  • Bust = Leave It




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