Well, now that we’ve got the OG Hendrick’s gin review out of the way, we can move on to my Florida Keys find of Hendrick’s Oasium. If you’re a regular reader, you may have noticed that I go to the Keys once a year — and inevitably pick up a couple of bottles to enjoy and review while I’m there. This year, I grabbed Hendrick’s Oasium expression, the 10th expression branching from the core offering. I had previously enjoyed some of Hendrick’s Neptuna gin with some friends, so figured the Oasium was a no-brainer bottle.
History
In 1999, William Grant & Sons wanted to get into the gin game. They didn’t want to do it by creating a run of the mill bathtub gin — rather, they wanted to create an “ultra-premium” gin. We’ve reviewed quite a few of William Grant & Sons spirits over the years, including Glenfiddich Scotch, Hudson bourbon, Tullamore DEW Irish whiskey, Sailor Jerry rum, and Millargo tequila. (Needless to say, they dabble in a bit of everything.)
Hendrick’s was the brainchild of Leslie Gracey, who is still the master distiller for Hendrick’s to this day. Gracey had the idea to make a gin with the normal botanical flavors, but to also add cucumber and rose to the mix.
Hendrick’s saw great success relatively quickly. In 2003, only four years after initial launch, the Wall Street Journal named it the “best gin in the world”. It’s earned numerous other awards and is credited as the spirit that helped bring gin back into the mainstream in the early 21st century.
In 2017, Hendrick’s started releasing a regular “reimagining” of the gin. These new expressions add various flavors and botanicals with one new expression released every year or two. The first was Orbium, which added blue lotus, cinchona, and wormwood (a Malort gin?!). There have been 10 total of these reimaging bottles released, with Oasium (the aforementioned catalyst for Thirty-One Whiskey getting into the Hendrick’s game) being the most recent.
Product
- Learn More: What Is Gin?
Hendrick’s gin starts with a neutral spirit, which really means raw whiskey that has been so highly refined that there’s almost no flavor left in it — just pure alcohol. Typically a minimum of 95% alcohol by volume, in fact, leaving very little room for any other flavoring.
Hendrick’s uses that neutral spirit in two different ways, through two different distilling technologies each using a different infusion technique.
In a a small copper pot-still dating back to the 1860’s, they place the neutral spirit and a blend of 11 botanicals to steep overnight like a large boozy tea in a process called “maceration”. The mixture is then distilled in the morning creating one component of the finished gin.
Added to that is another strain of gin that is distilled through a Carter-Head still constructed in 1948. In this case, rather than steeping the botanicals in the raw alcohol, the heated alcohol vapors are passed through a basket of botanical elements that infuse elements of those botanicals into the gin in a process called “vapor infusion”.
The ratio of how these two distillates are blended is a secret, but we do know rose and cucumber are added to finish the gin after blending.
As far as the botanicals go, there is nothing surprising: juniper, orange peel, lemon peel, elderflower, angelica root, caraway seed, chamomile, orris root, coriander, and cubeb berry.
This particular expression of Hendrick’s is meant to evoke the thought of being in a desert oasis, so Gracey, as master distiller, looked to bring desert herbs and bright fruits to the finish of this gin (think: guava, mango, and grapefruit).
After the final product is blended, and the right mix of flavorings from all the various components is complete, the gin leaves the still at about 142 proof (less than the legal limit for whiskey, which is 160 proof) and is bottled at 88 proof.
Packaging
I feel like the packaging is one area that Hendrick’s really shines. Styled after an apothecary bottle, this hits all the right gin notes for me. This bottle is completely cylindrical, short, has a very sharp shoulder, and nearly non-existent neck. It’s topped off with a cork and plastic stopper.
Embossed on the shoulder is the name “Hendrick’s” with an image of generic botanicals on either side. The glass is dark, which I often see as a negative for whiskey, when you want to see the beautiful golden umber liquid. However, with a clear gin… who cares. So I’m glad they chose a vibe and leaned into it hard, and no points off for the opaque bottle.
The label is a large diamond with the name of the gin, distilling location, and all of the pertinent information. It’s simple, yet elegant. The apothecary bottle has become a distinctive part of the brand, being used with various color palettes for different expressions. This particular bottle is branded with a yellow theme, pulling in elements from a desert oasis, and sports a belt indicating that it’s from their “cabinet of curiosities” collection.
The only thing I dislike about this bottle is pouring from it (an important part of the functionality): it looks great, but I’ve yet to pour a drink and not splash all over. The airflow is all wrong, causing the gin to pour unevenly.
Neat
Much like the original Hendrick’s, a sharp and pungent hit of alcohol is the first thing I smell. It’s not pleasant. However, after you get past that, you get a lot of the standard gin flavors, like juniper followed by citrus. It’s a mild aroma, and not overpowering in the least.
I get a lot of bitterness on the first sip — much more than I expected. I suspect that must be the grapefruit, and it’s overwhelming. It’s followed by a strong generic citrus flavor, juniper, black pepper, and coriander. Interestingly, there is a lot going on all at once… and then nothing at all.
It’s like getting sucker punched by a spirit, there is a sudden strong burst of flavors and then nothing.
On Ice
Just like the OG Hendricks, this is where the gin really begins to shine. Once some ice is added to the mix, you can start to pick out individual botanicals. As normal, the juniper is front and center; however, there is a strong bitter grapefruit note that is competing for attention with the juniper.
That bitter citrus allows the other bitter notes (specifically, the angelica root and cubeb root) to really shine. You can also start to pick up more of the tropical fruit notes, including mango, guava, and papaya (more on that in a second) giving this gin a tropical breakfast feel.
Full transparency: I really do not like papaya, and that is the note I keep going back to. I think the rest of the flavors are great, but I think my own taste preferences make it hard to ignore what is (at least to me) the least palatable one.
Papaya – bye-bye-ya, it’s on to the G&T.
Cocktail (Gin & Tonic)
I love the OG Hendrick’s G&T – in fact, this drink is what inspired me to get this specific expression and I had high hopes for the results.
In this case, you still get the standard G&T flavors: mild sweetness and acidity from the fresh lime, bitterness from the quinine in the tonic water, fresh citrus from the garnish and the gin, but I lose the tropical fruit flavors (thank goodness that papaya is gone) and the grapefruit. The latter is a shame, as I think grapefruit might be a great flavor to add here.
(Side note, I did get a grapefruit for breakfast and for a garnish, and it was amazing. My wife was proud of me starting the day healthy for a change.)
Still a great G&T, but not as good as the original.
Cocktail (Negroni)
I did not get a bottle of Campari while on vacation. Instead, I saved some of the Oasium gin and brought it home in my trusty Aged & Ore Bottle Flight. (Which, if you’ve never heard of, is absolutely worth checking out.)
I said during my original Hendrick’s review that I don’t think a negroni can be too bitter. Just like the OG, this is a bitter cocktail; however, the sweetness of the grapefruit flavors really seem to cut that bitterness a bit. If you are not as bitter as I am, this might be a great negroni spirit.
I love how the strong bitter botanicals of the gin seem to blend so well with the Campari, yet it’s still bitter. The grapefruit and tropical fruit notes cut through it slightly and bring you a more mellow, sweeter cocktail. For me and my weirdly bitter preferences, it’s not as good as the OG gin version… but I could see this being a version that appeals more to the masses.
Overall Rating
I have always been a Hendrick’s fan, especially in a gin & tonic, so I was excited to try another expression on a great gin. Unfortunately, I think that the elements that I enjoy about Hendrick’s (the bitterness) may have been stripped out due to the tropical flavors. That absolutely does not make this a bad gin — it just means that in my opinion, it’s not quite as good as their original expression.
I could see this appealing to many people who want to drink a less bitter, more fruity gin. If that sounds like you, I would encourage you to give it a try.
| Hendrick’s Oasium Gin Production Location: Scotland Classification: Gin Aging: No Age Statement (NAS) Proof: 43.4% ABV Price: $39.99 / 750 ml Overall Rating:   |
Overall Rating: 3/5
It may be refreshing to sip at a desert oasis, but I still prefer it’s older and more bitter father.