Panda Organic Gin Review

By Tom
August 25, 2019
0 Comments

Think Panda. Drink Panda. Be Panda

I like pandas… I will even go as far as to tell you that my oldest possession is a small panda teddy that I affectionately call “Baby”! So when I was asked to review Panda Organic Gin I jumped at the chance!

Made in Belgium

Panda gin is distilled and bottled in Belgium, using 100% organic botanicals and boasts on their website that its the first Lychee-based gin on the market. Other botanicals include cherry, orange peel, basil, rosemary, star anise, juniper berries all mixed with pure water from Hautes Fagnes.

The bottle design is quite striking – an opaque white bottle with a lovely line drawing of a panda and some other drawings of the botanicals. It looks great, very artistic but would be interesting how it would look on a back bar. I think it might fade away when out next to more vibrant labels. Saying that the bottle design does make you feel like you have a real premium gin in your hands.

What does it taste like

Nose:

On my first sniff, I was quite taken aback by the sweetness of the aroma. I got hints of Sherbert and red berries. I was reminded of chewy fruit salad sweets (which on googling I found out are Raspberry and Pineapple flavour).

Taste:

Pleasing tingle around the mouth from the alcohol (40%) with a strong sweetness. Juniper is there is the background, but this is far from a classic juniper-forward London dry. That’s not to say it’s too sweet. The sweet notes and juniper balance out well. The finish is warm and fruity

To serve:

I initially tried this as a G&T but found it too sweet for my palate. I think my choice of tonic was a little too sweet as I hoped the bitter quinine would counteract the sweetness of the gin. Neat allows you to enjoy the delicate flavours of lychee and truly appreciate how well cherry, basil, Rosemary and star anise go together. I also found it quite pleasing in a gin sour,the sweetness perfectly complementing the zesty lime juice.

How would I sum up Panda gin?

It is sweet but don’t let that out you off. It’s a well balanced gin when tasted neat – the sweetness is balanced out with the juniper, Rosemary and star anise. I like it and I’m excited to try this in different cocktails.

I’d like to thank the guys at Panda gin for sending us a bottle of their gin to try. If you want to find it more you can check out their website here, or get social with them on Facebook and Instagram.