Tasting

Anyone tasting a Yarra Valley gin for the first time should try it neat, without ice. A small glass at room temperature works best, with water alongside to cleanse the nose. This helps separate the layers that often blur together with tonic water.

Four Pillars' Rare Dry Gin opens with classic juniper and citrus peel. Then Tasmanian pepperberry sends a warm, almost peppery heat afterward. It lingers longer on the palate than in European gins, a direct fingerprint of the Australian bush.

The same distillery's Bloody Shiraz Gin, by contrast, tastes of fruit first. Eight weeks in contact with Shiraz grapes give it a deep red color. Notes of berries and light tannin follow, pushing the juniper into the background without covering it entirely. The Melbourne Gin Company's Melbourne Dry Gin, meanwhile, leans on softness. Thanks to the separate distillation of each botanical, it feels rounder, with sandalwood and honey myrtle on the finish.

All three show how differently the same basic idea can be interpreted: juniper plus local botanicals. At Four Pillars it comes across sharper and more bush-like, at the Melbourne Gin Company softer and more floral. Anyone tasting the three in succession essentially tastes the full range of what Victoria understands gin to be, without a single drop of tonic getting in the way.

A short first sip that just wets the tip of the tongue helps with tasting. Only the second, slightly larger sip reveals how long the aromas linger on the finish. Between the three gins, a pause with water is worthwhile so the tongue doesn't tire and each sample can stand on its own.