Tasting

Irish gin rarely tastes of juniper alone. Most distilleries deliberately push a second, very distinct ingredient to the fore. First-time tasters should expect this, rather than looking for a classically dry, austere London Dry.

Drumshanbo Gunpowder Irish Gin from The Shed Distillery makes this clear. On the nose, a smoky, minty tea note from the gunpowder green tea comes first, followed by a honeyed floral sweetness from the meadowsweet. Only in the finish does the juniper announce itself, with a resinous sharpness.

Dingle Original Gin, by contrast, feels floral and herbaceous at once. Red fuchsia blossom shapes the aroma, joined by a slightly bitter, woodland note from bog myrtle and heather on the palate. In the finish, angelica root lends an earthy undertone.

Glendalough Wild Botanical Irish Gin tastes comparatively fresh and green. It's defined by wood sorrel and elderflower, with a slightly resinous, needle-like note from the fir sprigs gathered in the Wicklow Mountains. According to the distillery, the exact composition shifts with the season.

When tasting, it helps to first smell the gin neat at room temperature, tilting your head slightly so the alcohol sharpness doesn't hit your nose directly. Only then take a small sip without ice. A drop of water can open up hidden aromas, much as it does with whiskey.

Anyone tasting these three gins side by side quickly notices just how differently "Irish gin" can speak: at times like tea and bog, at others like a flowering hedgerow, at others still like a mountain stream in spring. Yet the same juniper sits at the core of every one.