Post #750096 by AceExplorer on Tue, Sep 1, 2015 6:07 AM

On 2015-08-30 23:54, CongoPete wrote:
I think it's gin because it doesn't really fall into any other categories.Gin produced only through distillation or redistillation of aromatics with an neutral spirit can be distinguished and marketed as "distilled gin".

I have read, and one distiller has directly told me, that "all gin starts out as a form of vodka." Then they soak various botanicals in it for one or more days, filter it, and bottle it, and send it off for sale.

According to the distillers at the St. Augustine Distillery, some rum makers move into gin early when they are starting rum production because they do not have to wait and age the gin like they do rum. This allows them to wait for the rum to complete the aging process and also generate critically-needed revenue early in the life of their new business.

If you get a chance, and you're in the area, take the 2-hour "Gin 101" class at the St. Augustine Distillery here in northeast Florida. They blew me away when I visited and took the class as part of a birthday gift from my better half earlier this year. Their gin is one of my favorites, a close second to Uncle Val's Botanical Gin from northern California. Both St. Augustine Gin and Uncle Val's Botanical Gin are "new world" gins in that they are not of the London Dry style and are much less juniper-forward. Both are very pleasant surprises which have converted numerous staunch gin-haters to new gin drinkers.

Not to get technical, but according to chemists, alcohol IS a solution!