Finders Barrel Aged Gin

About the drink

The Finders Distillery Barrel Aged Gin is a limited-run gin, in this case aged in an Oloroso Sherry Cask. The description on the bottle notes “Featuring juniper, cassia bark, orris root and wattle seed, it’s the perfect starting place for great flavour to come”. At 43.2% ABV it’s slightly higher than a typical gin, but given the tendency of barrel-aging in Sydney to increase the ABV of spirits this is more than expected. From my layman’s view, judging by the colour of the gin I would guess an aging time of 12-24 months. Enough time to develop the nice caramel colour we can see below.

This was batch #6 of the Finders Barrel Aged Gin series, and bottle #72 for those who are playing at home.

Notes

A strongly flavoured barrel-aged gin, amazingly smooth to drink neat or on ice. A strong flavour from the barrel is noticeable and the aftertaste highlights the flavour of the gin that was used in the aging process. On the nose I get notes of an almost vanilla flavour and a strong woody scent. The gin flavour comes through most strongly in the finish, with the tongue picking up the notes from the barrel and a crisp mouthfeel. Definitely a gin better suited to serving neat, adding ice detracts from the overall experience without adding anything unique.

Worth It?

I can’t remember how much I paid for this bottle, except that it was over AUD$100 and that I purchased it from (Carrington Cellars)[https://thecarrington.com.au/dine-drink/cellars/]. The short answer? Yes. As someone who loves a barrel-aged gin, this mixes the perfect complexity of an aged whisk(e)y with a strong gin flavour that will attract those who love both and polarise those who don’t.