Needle Blackforest Gin review

I chose to review one of the Aldi's new gins released on the 14th November because; well, everyone has been going crazy about them, and so have I haha!! I have to say I was drawn to the Needle Blackforest gin, and I think it was just because it's a bottle green colour, rather than transparent like the rest (simple, I know!). The design is quite simple but a touch elegant, and packs a fair punch measuring in at 47%vol.

The Blackforest recipe has been used by the distiller, and the handpicked botanicals are:

• Juniper
• Lavendar
• Orange
• Lemon
• Ginger
• Spruce needles

I tried this gin with a number of combinations including, Fevertree Indian tonic with a slice fresh orange, Fevertree Indian tonic with a cinnamon stick, Fevertree Indian tonic with a sprig rosemary, and Fevertree aromatic tonic with a few chunks of nutmeg. I decided to try all of these combinations as Aldi describe this gin as a dry, spicy gin, and some of the combinations came from the Ginventory app. 

When I get a gin the first thing I do is smell it, and either make an mmmmm, mmmMMM, or MMMMM noise.......or, no noise! I pulled the cork out and said 'mmm not bad'. The smell was quite smooth with a hint of citrus. I have decided only to talk about my top two favourite combinations and my least favourite.

My least favourite combination was the Fevertree Indian tonic with a slice of fresh orange, I found this brought out extreme bitterness within the gin, and it left a bitter aftertaste too. My second favourite combination was the Fevertree Indian tonic with the cinnamon stick, waow what a wonderful warm taste, there was no bitterness what so ever, just smooth and warm probably bringing out the ginger, though this was not distinct. My most favourite had to be the Fevertree aromatic tonic with the nutmeg garnish, I found that this brought out a warm earthiness taste, again, not a very distinct earthiness, but it definitely added a more fresh taste to the warmness.

Over all, this gin isn't too bad and it's obvious that what it's paired with makes a difference. The main theme when tasting this gin was the warmness brought through from the cinnamon and nutmeg garnishes. I found that there was not a particular bontanical I could taste, however I feel this would make for a nice Christmas gin paired with cinnamon or nutmeg, at a budget friendly price of 14.99GBP for the 50cl bottle.

Gin count: 53
Thank you for reading :)

Hello, lets talk gin!!!

Hello, my name is Jordan, I'm 26, a student midwife, Northern Irish, and I am as you guessed a gin fanatic, and I thought I would share my gin journey with all you lovely people. if you have not already guessed I will be talking about gin..... a lot!! 

I have been talking about doing this for quite a while, so today I finally bit the bullet and here I am. I just want to share my love for gin, and I know there are plenty of other gin lovers out there too. I have loved gin for quite a while, before it became "fashionable" I guess, I started with the Gordons and schweppes combination, no fever tree back then haha!! I remember my mum (hi mum!) always told me that gin just makes you cry, and that I definitely shouldn't drink it....now she's also appreciative of a good G&T courtesy of the bottle I left at hers. The gin that really sent my taste buds into turmoil was Hendricks, going from Gordons to this was spectacular, and from this point I lost count with the amount of gins I have tried. 

What to expect from the rest of my posts.....
When I buy a gin I will want to tell you all about it, I will also share my favourite garnish, tonic, and nibble to go with each gin. I am also part of the craft gin club, therefore I will be updating you with plenty of pictures and thoughts from these boxes. I have plenty of tips to share which every gin lover needs......basically anything including gin will be on here haha!! My next update will be within the next week to two weeks, as I want to purchase one of the new Aldi gins, released yesterday.

Thank you so much for reading my post, please please feel free to comment or suggest what you would like to see in the future. Enjoy your next gin, see you soon :)