While almost all gin is clear (or lightly colored if aged), there are a handful of exceptions. Amongst them is damson / sloe gin. This variant is made with a variety of native plums, known as sloes or damsons (Prunus Damascena). While these are technically related to plums, they fell out of popularity compared to the varieties you find in stores. While less common, they’re often made into delicious, spicy products like jams or damson gins (such as Averell Damson Gin Liqueur).
Averell Damson Gin*
Sight: An opaque, slightly burnt, caramelly brown with a tint of brick.
Smell: Deep notes of dried plum macerated in caramel and herbs drift out to lead things off. A bit of spice joins in, giving an almost holiday like spicing to the mix. As it builds, herbal notes begin to try to even things out with bit of bay leaf and ginger, before the fresh brightness of plum comes through.
Sip: The flavor is sweet and caramelized with plenty of Christmas like spicing. Notes of cinnamon, clove, and allspice compliment dried plum notes and pops of fresh plum skin. An acidity carries throughout, giving it a beautiful character.
Savor: The ending is full of bright fruit, but it lingers with a slightly bitter spice and plum skin notes.
Averell Damson Gin is not the kind of thing you would typically drink on it’s own, although in sips it isn’t bad. The complex plum flavor mixed with the botanicals of the gin and the spicing lead to a unique flavor that begs to be used a modifier. The autumnal and holiday spice is simply lovely, and the ginger gives a good kick.
In Cocktails
In a Sloe Gin Fizz it delivers a bright and spicy pop of plum flavor. While the lemon seems like it would tip the brightness over the edge, it actually helps add a different form of acidity that adds levity. The richness of the sugary notes and the bubbles of club work well, and it feels like a great seasonal transition cocktail. We also call for Averell Damson Gin in our I Am Dracula, I Bid You Welcome, where it adds spicing and compliments the fruitiness of port.
In Review – Averell Damson Gin
Averell Damson Gin is a unique and distinctly un-gin like flavor. The spice and fruitiness of the liqueur means that it delivers massive amounts of holiday like spicing with a pop of bright plum in every sip. This lends it well to a lot of intriguing propositions when trying to craft new cocktails. There are however a few downsides. First, after opening it won’t last indefinitely like normal gin. You can expect that after a year the oxidation will significantly impact flavors. Secondly, there aren’t a ton of cocktails that call for Sloe / Damson gin, meaning you’ll be trying to work through a bottle for a while depending on your usage rate. That said, Averill’s version is very reasonably priced in the mid $20 range.
*Note – this bottle has undergone a packaging change since taking and reviewing our bottle. We have no reason to believe the contents of the bottle have changed.