Full Review

Four Pillars

Four Pillars
Olive Leaf Gin

Category: Gin

Date Tasted:
Country: Australia
Alcohol: 43.8%
93 Points
Gold Medal
Exceptional
$34

Four Pillars
Olive Leaf Gin

Category: Gin

Date Tasted:
Country: Australia
Alcohol: 43.8%
Clear color. Inviting aromas and flavors of mango-sultana spice cake, BBQ sweet potato chip, rosemary herb muffin, and sappy pine and wax with a silky, bright, dryish medium body and a smooth, interesting, medium-long finish with accents of vanilla banana milk and pound cake with juniper jam. A delightful Gin that will play nicely neat and in cocktails.

Tasting Info

Spirits Glass Style: Fruity & Spicy
Aroma Aroma: mango-sultana spice cake, bbq sweet potato chip, rosemary herb muffin, and sappy pine and wax
Taste Flavor: Same as aromas with accents of vanilla banana milk and pound cake with juniper jam
Smoothness Smoothness: Smooth
Enjoy Enjoy: NeatEnjoy in cocktails
Cocktail Cocktails: Gin Martini, Gimlet, French 75
Bottom Line Bottom Line: A delightful gin that will play nicely neat and in cocktails.

The Producer

Four Pillars Gin

The Producer

Their Portfolio

93 Four Pillars Olive Leaf Gin 43.8% (Australia) $34.00.
88 Four Pillars Rare Dry Gin 41.8% (Australia) $32.00.

Gin

Spirits Glass Rock Clear.jpg
Serve in a Rocks Glass
Gin is the original flavored vodka, a clear spirit that is flavored with juniper berries and so-called botanicals (a varied assortment of herbs and spices). The spirit base of Gin is primarily grain (usually wheat or rye), which results in a light-bodied spirit.

The chief flavoring agent in gin is the highly aromatic blue-green berry of the juniper, a low-slung evergreen bush (genus Juniperus) that is commercially grown in northern Italy, Croatia, the United States and Canada. Additional botanicals can include anise, angelica root, cinnamon, orange peel, coriander, and cassia bark. All gin makers have their own secret combination of botanicals, the number of which can range from as few as four to as many as 15 or more.

Most gin is initially distilled in efficient column stills. The resulting spirit is high-proof, light-bodied, and clean with a minimal amount of congeners (flavor compounds) and flavoring agents. Gin's lowland cousin, Genever, is distilled in less-efficient potstills, which results in a lower-proof, more flavorful spirit. Low-quality 'Compound Gins' are made by simply mixing the base spirit with juniper and botanical extracts. Mass-market gins, known as 'Distilled Gins', are produced by soaking juniper berries and botanicals in the base spirit and then redistilling the mixture.

Many top-quality gins are flavored in a unique manner and are referred to as 'London Dry Gins'. After one or more distillations the base spirit is redistilled one last time. During this final distillation the alcohol vapor wafts through a chamber in which the dried juniper berries and botanicals are suspended. The vapor gently extracts aromatic and flavoring oils and compounds from the berries and spices as it travels through the chamber on its way to the condenser. The resulting flavored spirit has a noticeable degree of complexity.

The most famous examples of gin are from the UK. These are among the most complex gins with subdued flavors of pine, peppery spices, citrus, herbal roots, and even floral notes, which are currently in vogue. Gin has experienced a revival thanks to the craft cocktail movement as the base for the wildly popular gin martini, a host of newly resuscitated classic cocktails, and adventuresome new libations.