Engine Organic Gin

Product of: Italy

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This highly tuned Engine is based on organic neutral wheat alcohol vacuum distilled with five 100% organic Italian botanicals and essential oils. Its botanical recipe is closely linked with Italy's Piedmont region and the lemon and sage rosolios made there.

Italian botanicals
Juniper berries
Alta Langa sage
Sicilian lemon zest
Calabrian liquorice root
Damask rose petals cultivated in Piedmont

Harnessing oil and fuel can imagery, Engine and its branding was the idea of Paolo Dalla Mora, an entrepreneur in fashion and spirits. With its strapline, "fuel the dream", Engine celebrates the golden era of motorsport and legendary cars such as the custom-painted Ford Gran Torino from the TV show Starsky and Hutch, Clint Eastwood's 1972 Ford Gran Torino, and the "General Lee" Dodge Charger in The Dukes of Hazzard.

This all-Italian gin is bottled in north-western Italy's Alta Langa region.

Discovered in October 2022 at Bar Convent Berlin (BCB).

Review and Tasting

Sampled on 27/10/2022

Appearance:

Crystal clear.

Aroma:

Zesty lemon and sage-forward with elderflower and liquorice. Juniper is comparatively restrained.

Taste:

Bitter zesty lemon and assertive sage sit over piney juniper with elderflower and liquorice in minor supporting roles. Fairly aggressive peppery spice throughout.

Aftertaste:

Lemon oils and sage continue through the long, moderately spicy finish with lingering liquorice.

Overall:

Turin is a long way from London and this is very much an Italian-styled, rather than a London dry gin. Its zesty lemon and sage-forward aroma and flavour will have its lovers and detractors, as will the very distinctive packaging. I love London dry gins but the world doesn't need another one and I applaud Engine for being distinctively different in equally, if not more, standout packaging. I'd score the liquid 4-out-of-5 but the packaging and branding 5+ so I've settled at an overall 4.5.