What can we say to Jamie Gordon and Simon Ford of The Absolut Spirits Company besides THANK YOU? The 20 members of the New York Chapter of Tasters Guild who attended the October 23rd Members Appreciation Night at The Absolut Spirits office had an eye opening evening tasting and learning about gin and vodka. Our hosts began by giving us a history lesson dealing with the founding of ABSOLUT by Lars Olsson Smith in 1879 in the very small southern Swedish town of Ahus. Using Swedish winter wheat and water from a proprietary source we learned that since vodka does not go through barrel aging, the character of the spirit is dependent on the quality of the natural ingredients. Every step of distillation and production of ABSOLUT still occurs in Ahus (even the bottles are washed with vodka). ABSOLUT accounts for almost 40% of the imported vodka market in the US and is the third largest brand of alcoholic spirit in the world after Bacardi and Smirnoff.
We had 6 cups placed in front of us. We were told to sniff the first 4 twice and then swirl them around in our mouth. There were comments from the attendees and we picked two favorites. It was then revealed that the two favorites were ABSOLUT and Chopin. The other vodkas were Grey Goose and Belvedere. The last two cups contained ABSOLUT Citron and Ketel 1 Citroen and were enjoyed by all our guests.
We then moved down a flight to the tasting bar where we were given Plymouth gin and tonic while the conference room was reset for Part Two. Many of the classic artworks used by ABSOLUT over the years were on display including paintings by Leroy Neiman, Andy Warhol and Keith Haring.
We learned that gin originated in Holland (Bols) around 1575. Plymouth Gin has been produced at the Black Friar Distillery in Plymouth England since 1793. It is a “Protected Geographical Indication” within the European Union. In the 1900’s Plymouth was the largest selling gin in the US. Even though US sales are not large it does sell 150,000 cases worldwide. We learned that Juniper has to be the number one botanical used in the production of gin. Others include: Anise, Angelica Root, Orange Peel, Cinnamon, Coriander, etc.
Next we had 5 cups placed in front of us. The favorites were Plymouth and Beefeater. The other cups contained Tanqueray, Hendricks and Bombay Sapphire. The only gin that none of the tasters could identify was Bombay Sapphire.
We then adjourned downstairs and around the corner to Vig 27, one of Murray Hill’s hottest cocktail destinations. Recession? Not here. The Joint was jumping and our hosts provided cocktails using both ABSOLUT and Plymouth, with the addition of lots of snack food.
Lets do it again for our 40th anniversary.
For More Info:
www.absolut.com
www.absolutdrinks.com
www.plymouthgin.com
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