Review: Isle of Harris Gin

Founded in 2015, Isle of Harris Distillery is one of the UK’s most remote distilling operations. And with a total island population under 2,000, it’s also a business of note, at max capacity employing about 1 out of 40 people on the island. While the distillery has several whiskies in distribution both in the UK and US, like many upstarts, they bolstered early sales with clear spirits. Today, we’re looking at Isle of Harris Gin, one of their most well known and widely distributed gin expressions.

(For the geographically curious, Harris in the Outer Hebrides is actually the southernmost part of Lewis and Harris, Scotland’s largest island that is separated by mountains.)

Isle of Harris Gin is made using nine botanicals, including sugar kelp harvested from underwater forests near the Outer Hebrides. The other eight are orris root, cinnamon, juniper berries, angelica root, cubebs, bitter orange peel, licorice root, and coriander. The gin is bottled at 90 proof and is currently available in 26 U.S. states, including California, New York, Texas, and Illinois.

Let’s see how it tastes.

Isle of Harris Gin Review

The nose is punchy and starts somewhere at the intersection of bitter orange and juniper berries. An intense citrus element continues throughout and eventually shifts into a big, weaving current of grapefruit peel. (Sweet lemon drops also linger on deep inhales.) In contrast, the juniper gradually fades. That leaves more room for some of the other listed botanicals — chief among them cinnamon, coriander, and orris — in addition to evoked scents including gentian root, walnut extract, and a tiny bit of carbolic soap. It’s memorably citrus forward, leaning bitter but with a bobbing and weaving sort of depth that sneaks in a light medicinal quality.

Early sips are creamy and quite approachable, even at 90 proof. A soft sweetness hits the midpalate and slowly dissipates, leaving behind more lemon drop candy, lime wedges, herbal mint tea, and honeysuckle. Sweetness gets a little more pronounced, and additional tastes bring more simple syrup and lemon meringue. That flavor quadrant eventually hits its peak, walking right up to the precipice of sugary without quite falling over. (Some salinity certainly helps with balance in that regard.) Citrus (in this case tangerine) again plays first chair on the finish, along with light lavender syrup and oolong tea.

In my personal tinkering, it’s solid with tonic, complementary in a Tom Collins, and absolutely first rate in a dry martini. Tell the Outer Hebrides we’re paying attention.

90 proof.

A- / $60 [BUY IT NOW FROM FROOTBAT]

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