On the Oregon Trail - Wine & Spirits
SOURCE: Wine & Spirits magazine
By Alissa Bica
Thinking Tree Spirits’ Gifted Gin is featured in the Wine & Spirits spring issue in a story about the best gins in Oregon and the cocktails they’ve inspired. Our Butterfly Lavender Vodka also gets a shoutout in the magazine as one of the best new releases!
“At Thinking Tree, head distiller Kaylon McAlister uses handmade stills, filtering his spirits more than 21 times to ensure their purity. This gin is bright and full of orange-zest scents. On the palate, the gin grows more complex with floral notes of lavender and rosewater before finishing with savory rhubarb. The body feels powdery and lush, the little bit of sweetness clamoring for something bitter. Rinaldi suggested a negroni could work but Marie said the gin’s citrus called for something spritzy. We tried it in a classic Gin and Tonic—and found that the bitterness from the tonic balanced the sweetness from the orange peel and coaxed out vegetal notes like fresh-cut celery. When we stirred in a little Monin Lavender syrup and topped with a rosemary sprig, all the flavors fused seamlessly. The lavender helped to accentuate the floral notes of the gin while maintaining the orange-peel finish.”