Skip to main content

Swill: Greenhook’s Ridiculously-Flavorful Vapor-Distilled Gin

Swill is our bi-monthly column dedicated to liquor, wine, beer, and every other delicious dram that falls under the broader umbrella of booze. But it’s more than just tasting notes scribbled on a cocktail napkin — Swill is about getting outside of your comfort zone, trying new things, and exploring the big, wide world of libations. One week you might catch us halfway through a bottle of single-malt scotch, and the week after that we might be buzzing on some Ugandan moonshine made from bananas. This column is just one big boozy adventure, so grab yourself a glass and join us for another round.

In my opinion, the advent of American- or New Western-style gin is one of the most exciting developments to hit the booze scene in recent memory. In case you haven’t noticed, gin has been experiencing a sort of renaissance over the past decade or so. Slowly but surely, distillers have broken free from the categorical boundaries of “dry gin,” and are now expanding what the spirit can be.

In other words, gin isn’t just about juniper anymore. Sure, juniper berry is and always will be one of the predominant ingredients in gin, but nowadays artisan distillers are inviting other botanicals into the mix.

One of the most exciting gins in this new category comes from a newborn distillery in Brooklyn: Greenhook Ginsmiths. Using a vapor distillation technique traditionally used by perfumeries, these guys have somehow managed to tease out some of the most pronounced floral and spice flavors i’ve ever encountered in a gin.

To be fair, lots of these Western-style gin distillers use adventurous botanical blends to achieve their own unique flavor profile, but most tend to feature exotic flavors in extremely minute –and often imperceptible– amounts. Greenhook, however, doesn’t let juniper steal the show.

The supporting cast is what really makes this gin shine. Juniper is there, but ceylon cinnamon, elderflower, and chamomile are arguably just as pronounced. Underneath, you’ll find subtle notes of orange, ginger, and orris root, which help to round the gin out and make it wonderfully complex. The Wall Street Journal called it “One of the boldest, most interesting gins out there,” and I couldn’t agree more.

Editors' Recommendations

Drew Prindle
Drew is our resident tech nerd. He’s spent most of his life trying to be James Bond, so naturally he’s developed an…
Forget wine — Beer and cheese is an unbeatable combination
Put the corkscrew away and crack open a cold one
Beer and cheese

When one hears the term cheese pairings, wine is the beverage that most often comes to mind, we'd wager. Because, of course, it is. The pairing of wine and cheese is as classic a coupling as peanut butter and jelly, bacon and eggs, or chocolate and strawberries. They're meant to be together. But that certainly doesn't mean that wine is the only adult beverage that can dance an alluring tango alongside everyone's favorite dairy product. Beer, as humble as its reputation can be, is also a beautiful balance to cheese's immense offering of flavors. While some may think of beer as not being as multi-dimensional and varied in its palate-pleasing capabilities as wine, this is not the case - especially now that we live in a world with so many exquisite craft beers, stouts, and lagers.
Of course, another classic accompaniment to cheese is bread or crackers. Why might that be, one might ask. Is it because we're simply in need of a starchy vessel to usher the cheese into our mouths? The answer is actually a bit deeper than that. Starches like bread and crackers are made from the same yeasty ingredients as beer, so their pairing makes perfect culinary sense.
This isn't to say, though, that one can simply pick up a hunk of cheddar and crack open a Budweiser and expect culinary artistry. The science is a bit more nuanced than that, so we're here to help you find the best pairings for your favorite beers and cheeses.

How to pair beer and cheese

Read more
Mijenta has a new cristalino tequila — here’s why bourbon fans will love it
Mijenta has a cristalino tequila perfect for bourbon drinkers
Mijenta Cristalino

If you’re new to tequila, you might not know all the terms. Even if you’re just a beginner, you probably know all about blanco, reposado, añejo, and maybe even joven. But chances are, you’re not familiar with Cristalino tequila. This reasonably contemporary style is simply añejo tequila that’s been charcoal filtered to remove its natural caramel color and various impurities.

The style is more than just a little popular. It’s actually the fastest growing style of tequila according to Nielsen data. The newest brand to get in on the Cristalino trend is Mijenta.

Read more
You may not dislike IPAs as much as you think — you’ve just tried the wrong type
There's much more to the IPA than bitter hop bombs
Beer

The IPA has been described as the cilantro of the beer world. It’s assumed by some novice drinkers that you either love it or hate it. On one hand, it’s one of the most popular beer styles in the American craft world. It’s loved by many drinkers for its liberal use of hops and fresh, crushable flavor profile.

But haters of the style dislike it because they have an assumption that all IPA beers are aggressively hopped and uncomfortably bitter. While there are IPAs that fit that criterion (and fans of that style can’t get enough of them), there are also a handful of other types of IPAs to fit any palate.
The IPA stigma

Read more