Ravenswood sits north of downtown Chicago, pressed up against an old freight line where grain cars once rolled towards the city elevators. Behind a fairly unremarkable facade, copper stills are humming away. What comes out of them smells more like a Midwestern wildflower meadow than an English gin factory.
The expert's description
Koval Dry Gin is an Organic American Dry Gin distilled with 13 botanicals at Koval Distillery in Chicago and bottled at 47%.
The unusual part of this gin sits somewhere people rarely look: in the base spirit. Most gin producers buy neutral grain spirit by the tanker and add juniper to it. Koval mashes and distills its own, from organic grain grown on Midwestern farms, and every bottle can be traced back to the farm the grain came from. That gives the spirit a bit more body, and you notice it in the texture, which is softer and creamier than a classic London Dry.
Among the 13 botanicals are juniper, angelica root, coriander, grains of paradise and rose hip. They go into the distillation in two separate stages rather than all at once, and only the heart cut is kept. The result is a gin where juniper is certainly present, but where the floral and citrus sides get to sit beside it instead of being flattened. The water comes from Lake Michigan, and there are no artificial additives and no GMO yeast.
Koval Distillery was founded in 2008 by Robert and Sonat Birnecker, who both walked away from academic careers to do it. It was the first distillery inside Chicago's city limits since Prohibition. Robert brought the technique from home, from his grandfather's fruit distillery in Austria. The whole production is both certified organic and kosher.
Tasting notes
Nose
Lavender and elderflower arrive first, almost perfumed, with lemon zest and a clear pine note behind them. A little spearmint, and a hint of vanilla if you let the glass rest.
Palate
Citrus and pine needles open. Then the floral side comes through with quince and white grapefruit, and juniper runs underneath like crushed berries. The texture is creamy rather than sharp.
Finish
Very dry. Anise and peppercorn last longest, with bitter orange peel around the edge, before the whole thing softens into something like rose petals.
Specifications
Name: Koval Dry Gin
Distillery: Koval Distillery
Region/Country: Chicago, Illinois, USA
Type: American Dry Gin
ABV: 47%
Size: 50 CL
Distillation method: Botanicals added in two stages, heart cut only
EAN no.: 850786006082
Serving suggestion: Gin and Tonic with a neutral tonic and a strip of grapefruit peel
Flavour profile
Floral · Citrus · Juniper · Dry · Peppery
Did you know?
The name Koval is Yiddish and means blacksmith. In the Birnecker family the word carried a second meaning too, the black sheep, the one who goes his own way rather than doing what everyone else does. Both readings fit two university people who quit their jobs to build a distillery in Chicago.
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