RogerBW's Blog

I like gin. So I thought I'd test some against each other.

These are two "oriental spiced" gins, i.e. with botanicals inspired by the Spice Road. One is a Known Name which goes for £23 per 70cl bottle (£18 if you buy it via Amazon); the other is sold in Lidl for £16. So how do they compare?

I didn't blind-test these, because I didn't think there'd be any point: even sniffing the bottles, the Opihr has a much stronger spice aroma than the Hortus.

Sampling them neat, the Hortus wins; it's a subtle effect, rather than leaping in and annexing the mouth.

But combined with ginger beer, the balance is the other way round; the Hortus nearly gets lost in the noise, while the Opihr manages to make itself known.

I like them both, but the Opihr is the one I'm going to replace when it runs out.