Gin is the drink of choice at our house. Our “go to” brands have been Gordon’s, Beefeater and Tanqueray because of the cleanness of the flavors. However, I am now adding Kirkland to the rotation as I like the added botanicals and do not find them as overwhelming as other brands such as Hendricks.
Costco sells their Kirkland Signature London Dry Gin, produced by DC Flynt MW Domaines, in a 1.75 liter glass bottle for about half the price of Tanqueray which is an amazing value.
The gin is 88 proof (44% alcohol) and distilled 5 times. In general, the more times an alcohol is distilled the more impurities are removed which should result in not feeling as bad the next day if you over indulge.
Flavor
Gin producers walk a fine line as they need to include some level of botanicals, mainly juniper berries, to match the flavor expected of a London Dry Gin. However, in attempts to make themselves stand out, they often go overboard with the botanicals and it tastes like you are licking a pine tree when you take a sip.
I feel like the Kirkland Signature Gin does a nice job of adding enough botanicals to be interesting but not overwhelming.
The label describes this gin as having notes of juniper, zesty citrus peel and coriander that “display beautiful aromatics on the nose”. The flavors “develop on the palate to deliver a long, clean finish”.
Yep…I really have no idea what any of that means.
There are so many botanical flavors that Costco had to list them on both sides of the bottle. The full list includes:
- Juniper Berries
- Coriander
- Orange Peel
- Cassia Bark
- Orris Root
- Cardamom Pods
- Lemon Peel
- Angelica Root
- Rose
Kirkland Signature Gin is Great for Cocktails
For us the true test of any gin is how it tastes in a Gin and Tonic. We make our drinks with one measure of gin per measure of tonic using tonic water that is naturally on the dry side (Fever Tree).
The resulting drink has a sharpness from the gin and is definitely juniper forward. There is considerably more complexity in the drink than you get when using Beefeater gin but not so much that it overwhelms and exhausts your palate.
I am not able to pick up the full range of botanicals listed on the label and I don’t mind. We serve our gin and tonics with either a lemon or lime so the citrus notes from the gin itself are overridden.
Price
I consider the Kirkland Signature London Dry Gin to be a premium alcohol that is much better than brands such as Bombay and Hendricks.
What is exceptional is that this premium gin is priced lower than we can buy our “house gin”, Gordon’s at the local grocery store.
The Kirkland Gin, Item Number 917100, is priced at $17.99 for a 1.75 liter bottle. This is roughly half the cost of Bombay and I like it much better.
