Gin O’Clock – Part Eighty Four
I have recently commented on the growth of gin distilleries
in British Columbia, particularly in Vancouver. Pleasurable as it would have
been, time precluded me from visiting more than the couple I did but there is
always the airport duty free shop. It is getting increasingly more difficult to
find new gins, mainly because they seem to be majoring in on one of the more
regrettable fads spawned by the ginaissance, flavoured gins. Still, tucked away
in relative obscurity I managed to find a bottle of Tempo Renovo Dry Gin.
An elegant bottle it was, too, rectangular in shape, leading
up to a longish neck and a brown, artificial cork stopper. The labelling is
modest and elegant with a beige background, what looks to be the sun embossed at
the top and lettering in brown, blue and silver. It doesn’t exactly shout out
at you and can easily get lost amongst its more vulgar and brash competitors
but if the design means anything, it suggests something that is sophisticated
and confident of its own merits.
Tempo Renovo is distilled by Goodridge and Williams Distilling
who were established by Stephen Goodridge in 2013. They started out making
vodka, using grain from the Peace River Valley in British Columbia which was
mashed and fermented at their distillery in Delta. Their take on vodka having
been well received, it was a natural progression to use the spirit as a base
for a gin. And so Tempo Renovo was born. The name, so the rear label informs me,
means time to revive or refresh. I will drink to that.
The rear label goes on to describe the product as “a
modern expression of contemporary dry gin for our times; smoothly refreshing, it
delivers the perfect balance”. Frustratingly, though, there is no
indication what has gone into the mix. It is becoming a bit of a hobby horse of
mine but a little more information beyond marketing-spin would be appreciated.
Of course, the only way to find out what it tastes like and
what may have been added to the grain spirit is to try it. On removing the
stopper, I could detect the juniper but the presence of liquorice was equally
apparent as were hints of some citrus elements. In the glass it is clear and in
the mouth it has a creamy consistency to it. The juniper is discernible but it
has a fight on its hands with the liquorice to make its presence felt. Then the
spices came in to play with a hint of lemon at the end. The aftertaste was
slightly peppery.
I found that the addition of ice and a decent tonic pepped the gin up, after all it was designed with those elements in mind, but, overall, I was a bit disappointed with the drink. I like my gins firmly juniper-led and Tempo Renovo would certainly not fill that requirement. With an ABV of 40% it seemed a bit muted to me, trying to steer a steady path between the inherent flavours of the botanicals. Perhaps I got the wrong message from the labelling. In reality, it was a pleasant enough drink but a bit understated.
Until the next time, cheers!
