Le Tribute Gin

Every once in a while you encounter a gin with outstanding product design. Often that makes me a bit cautious since we have quite a few products out on the market which try to convince by look and not by taste and quality. And after all those latter aspects are the important ones.

So when I saw the wonderfully designed bottles of Le Tribute a few years ago I fell in love like almost everyone. It took me until early 2019 to buy the bottle and as with so many bottles I never got around to write a review. Let us change that now to add a citrus loaded gin to the reviews: Meet Le Tribute Gin & Tonic.

Background on Le Tribute Gin

The gin is produced by the distillery MG Destilerias in Spain which is a family business distilling in the fifth generation today. Founded in 1835 by the Giró family the company started with the production of syrups and Horchata, a sweet drink based on rice, almonds, some spices, and milk. Distilling started in 1880 with spirits and liqueurs followed by carbonated drinks in 1923. 1940 was the year their first London Gin was produced based on juniper harvested on their own land.  1982 marked the date when a new higher level gin as they say was created the Master's. Staying on the juniper path: You might know the Gin Mare which was launched in 2010 by the company as well, followed by Le Tribute in 2017.

The company expanded to Cuba in 1993 for instance to import fine food and spirits. Whisky is in their line up as well as the Le Tribute Mezcal which looks very similar to the gin but comes in a delicate pink coloured bottle.

Production of Le Tribute gin

So how is the gin created? The Le Tribute gin is no London Gin unlike other gins from the distillery. As the first step the botanicals get macerated in a wheat and barley based base alcohol. Lemons and oranges for instance or the different types of grapefruits enjoy this treatment in the respective groups. The gin gets created after the botanicals are separately distilled. Lemongrass is distilled on a water base rather than alcohol as that turned out to be the better option rather than the previously attempted extraction of essential oils from citronella to add this specific flavour. After all compounds have been created the final product is blended and brought to 43% ABV before it gets bottled.

Botanicals in Le Tribute gin

The list of botanicals is almost a complete listing of all things citrus and it shows in the taste and aroma profile:

• Juniper from Teruel

• Lemongrass

• Orange from Valencia

• Lemons from Seville

• Grapefruits, three different kinds

• Kumquat

• Tangerine

• Lime

A delicious match: Le tribute gin and tonic

Tasting Notes Le Tribute Gin

When I tried the gin for the first time it was with some lousy tonic and no ice at a friend's place. No fun and it got totally destroyed. No good start back then. So when I got my own bottle I found that the gin is intense but can be fragile with the wrong tonic. So obviously the Le Tribute tonic, looking just as magnificent as the gin itself, works really well. I must say this combination really makes a great and summer-suitable gin & tonic. While the juniper is still a player in this gin, the emphasis was clearly placed on the amazing variety of citrus fruits involved.

Nose

Not too intense, light and obviously lots of citrus. Lemon and grapefruit are the ones I get most dominantly. Juniper says hello as well and the 43% are noticeable but not too strong. A light and crisp nose with a fine zing.

Palate

The citrus from the nose makes it, no big surprise, into the taste as well. Citrus is everywhere, it is light and fresh, and comes and goes. Even though I get lemon and grapefruit at first the different other citrus flavours come and go as well. Lime is quite a good base and adds depth. The juniper however rises to the top after a moment and is growing in spice all over the palate.

Aftertaste

The aftertaste is medium long and a warming, sweet sensation follows the first spice sensation. The citrus remains present for quite some time.

Perfect serve

I have to admit that I enjoyed the accompanying tonics a lot. Not so easily available in every shop this can be a challenge, so I reckon it makes sense to get some right with the gin. A set of tonics follows in case you cannot get the tonics. There are lovely box sets and Le Tribute style accessoires available. So getting the combo is not too hard however.

The GinGinGin transparency declaration

This gin was a free sample by the producer in order for us to review the bottle. I purchased a bottle before that as well. There are and were no obligations nor any edits of this content by the producers. Products tasted and reviewed by GinGinGin are all equally treated, paid for or free samples. If we like gins we buy them afterwards as well. If we do not like them you will read about it as well. When people ask if we would like to review a bottle, it is the first thing we mention to them that this does not guarantee a positive review. Get in touch to know more about reviews of gins. #Advertising / #Werbung