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Aviation Gin

Aviation Gin, the old bottle

Aviation Gin, the old bottle

Proof: 84
Color: clear
Nose: clean, mildly floral
Taste: floral, with a hint of juniper & citrus
Finish: clean with a touch of spice
Value: comparable to other Gins in its class; still good for what you get

Having already identified Plymouth Gin as the One Bottle of Gin Your Should Have In Your Home Bar, you might wonder why I’m even bothering to review other gins.

Well, each individual Gin might have a specific purpose… fill a certain need in your cocktail regiment. That’s why I list cocktails at the end: a reason you might want to add that booze to your home bar.

Off to “let’s not mince words”: Aviation Gin is smooth; so smooth that it can pick up men or women with just a single look.

Compared to other gins, Aviation is cleaner, more subtle. It’s more floral than Plymouth and New Amsterdam, but is still as light as Plymouth in its application of juniper.

Aviation Gin is smooth; so smooth that it can pick up men or women with just a single look.

House Spirits of Portland Oregon, U.S.A., has been making Aviation Gin since 2004. They adopted the name “Aviation” because of the Aviation Cocktail, whose main ingredient is Gin. The floral notes in Aviation Gin make it the ideal booze for the cocktail.

Aviation Gin in its new bottle, plus Jewel of Russia Ultra

Aviation Gin in its new bottle, plus Jewel of Russia Ultra

Sipping Aviation on its own, you get zero bite on the tongue. Pretty impressive for a Gin at 84 proof. I fully expected a pepper note and serious spice. But no. What you do get is floral with hints of citrus, and a nice warm feeling as it goes down. It is a very clean gin, about as neutral as Plymouth. (High praise, indeed!)

Simply on the rocks, this is a fine Gin!

On my Gin scale of:

Citrus – – – – Juniper – – – – Floral

Aviation Gin sits on the second peg down from the Floral end.

This is a gin that begs to be made into its signature drink, the Aviation Cocktail, or my original drink: The Howitzer. A Bramble, a Dry Martini or a Vesper would also make excellent choices for use.

Here are my choices for the best uses for Aviation Gin:

Sipping Aviation on its own, you get zero bite on the tongue. Pretty impressive for a Gin at 84 proof.

You already know that I enjoy alcohol that announces its presence. As I’ve said before, I like a gin that says “I HAVE JUNIPER! FEAR ME, THOU OF UNREFINED PALATES!” Aviation is *not* that gin… but man-oh-man, this is a great Gin. This is a Gin that makes me long for an evening of Prohibition Era cocktails. It is smooth, tasty, versatile and mixable. In a word: Yumm.

Final Rating: 95 out of 100