Flavour Monks Pure Gin
ConcreteRiver
Setup: Recoil w/ flavor barrel, Dual 15 wrap 26g 3mm Nifethal 70 coils @.19 ohms. 60w power, 450F temp limit. Full Cotton Wicks.
Testing: FM Pure Gin @ %3, 60/40 VG/PG, Steeped 14 days.
Flavor Description: Gin, basically. Fairly soft, with a flavor that is both cleaner and more nuanced than FA Gin. Juniper berries, and a crisp herbal note with some dandelion, citrus peel, and warm mild black pepper heat. Overall effect is a little astringent and boozy, which is spot on for a gin.
Inhale is soft and wet, with a hint of a very green herbal flavor and some lightly tart citrus. Sweetness seems right on point. Exhale opens up into Juniper berries with some soft floral top notes. Back half of the exhale gets boozy, with a raw alcohol mouthfeel. Those herbal flavors really show up after the juniper fades a bit. I get green, astringent dandelion, some bitter orange top notes, and an overall kind of warmth that feels a lot like the warmth you get from pink peppercorns or even grains of paradise. Softer than black pepper, without those sharper musky notes and intense spice. Sweetness is just enough to complement the flavor here, with no added sugary-ness. Those alcohol, juniper, and citrus top notes linger a bit. Overall mouthfeel seems more "soft" than "thin" as it's a well-rounded flavor that just isn't too overbearing as opposed to one-note without a ton of body.
Off-flavors: Nah. Definitely reads "gin."
Throat Hit: Not really, makes your mouth tingling a bit but pretty smooth for a gin flavor.
Uses & Pairings: I think this addresses most of the mouthfeel issues you get from FA Gin. It's wetter in general, and I don't feel like the cucumber or cactus backup is essential. It is noticeably weaker, so you'll have to bump up to 4% or even 5% for a strong primary gin note in a cocktail, but even at those levels it should play well and actually mix in a recipe instead of tasting like a spike of juniper right up front.
This isn't as aggressive as FA Gin, and so fruit pairings with the gin as a supporting player are going to be a lot easier. It'll still end up tasting like juniper mixed with your fruit, but it'll add some wetness and interest wihtout just blowing out your taste buds. I'd still mix this with darker berries, but the effect will be quite a bit more pleasant.
Notes:
Flavormonks suggests mixing at 10%. I think that's overboard, and I really like the subtle complexity and balance lower than that. S&V concentration testing, 1 and 2% are pretty light. At 1% you get mostly those green herbal kind of notes. 2% has a bit more of that fuller juniper taste and you get a bit of the booze here. More of a floral down low, so may work as a accent in places you wouldn't expect. 3% is about the minimum for a fuller gin taste. Above 3% the boldness of the juniper increases. By 4% I'd call it juniper forward, and at 5% percent I hit my personal limit, as the juniper note gets distinctly woody. I'd mix with at 2% for an accent for fruit mixes, 3% for a subtle hit of gin in a fruitier cocktail, and 4-5% for a strong, bold gin flavor.
If it didn't come across, I really like this. If you are in the market for a really good, bordering on great straight gin flavor this is definitely my pick. It is a bit harder to source than FA Gin, though.
I'll be going through the rest of the Flavourmonks gin line this week and a couple other scattered Flavourmonks and Decadent Vapours concentrates. Some of these European concentrates have a bit of mystery to them, but it isn't too hard to get your hands on if you are American. Chef's Flavours has 10mls of this for £2, which translates to $2.50 in 'murican dollars according to google. Shipping isn't all that bad either, costing me about $6.25 for a $50 dollar order and I got it within 2 weeks. Sorry for the Chef's Flavours plug, just trying to illustrate that these concentrates aren't nearly that unobtainable.
Second Opinions:
Nothing much that I can find. You can have some website copy though:
"Our Gin concentrated flavors are freshly handmade with all natural products, straight out of our own botanical garden. We use 14 botanical agents and herbs to get a top-notch gin. Because it’s superfresh handmade the steeping period is at least 9 days. More PG gives it a more juniper taste, while it gets more mild with more VG. It’s your mix, you decide."
That's some weapons-grade marketing bullshit there, but this is pretty damn good.