Mark Adams
Tanqueray Bloomsbury is based on Charles Waugh Tanqueray’s 1880s’ recipe when the distillery was located in the eponymous London district. With prominent juniper notes and botanicals including cassia bark, winter savoury and angelica, this lends itself to adding extra oomph to classic gin-based cocktails.
Ladle of Contents
Tanqueray Bloomsbury Gin Review:
A nice hit of juniper notes from the spice notes of the botanicals make up the backbone of the gin’s taste whilst a subtle sensation from the angelica and winter savoury notes provides the middle notes. Cassia bark is present in the background but it’s ultimately more of an occasional flavour and doesn’t really change the taste too much at all.
To be clear, this is still a very strong, full bodied and intensely flavoured dry gin, but once you get beyond the first third of your gin-based cocktail it’s not going to make much of a difference to the flavour that you’re adding.
In fact, it may even make some cocktails dull (such as the Dukes). You could always add more tonic water to the Dukes to help with that but if you’re looking for something with more going on, delve a little deeper by mixing a Tanqueray with a real gin.
This being said, I was pleasantly surprised at the Bloomsbury’s drinkability. For its ABV, it’s a beautiful spirit, and you can still really taste the different botanicals when mixed into a good cocktail. The Bloomsbury is less overpowering than many gins which assists its more subtle flavours rather than clobbering them with aggressive spice notes.
Because of that main strength, the Bloomsbury doesn’t taste dry enough to stand up to excessively rich drinks such as the Dukes or the The Diastole, but it does really hit the mark with most classic G&Ts and Old Fashioneds.
For those of you who’d like to make a change of pace mid-afternoon, don’t expect too much change from the Bloomsbury’s flavour – although it’s an interesting botanical taste combination and is actually rather pleasant. If you’re looking for a change, then you may prefer the relative dryness of the Tanqueray Classic, but for all others, this is a lovely spin on the classic brand’s heritage spirit.
It’s a very simple, yet satisfying spirit, and one that might even mature to a more interesting, complex and complex gin over time.
The Verdict
As a rather dry dry gin, Tanqueray Bloomsbury Gin is a good place to start if you’re not really worried about getting your hands on the more complex gins from the more expensive mainstream brands. If you’re looking for something that hits the middle of the road nicely and gives you the most bang for buck, then this is an excellent choice.
Tanqueray Bloomsbury Gin Review 1:
This has a pleasant sweet taste. The spirit is very smooth and malty as expected from the rye. There is an unmistakable taste of honey and caramelised sugars that come out almost as soon as I drink a few sips of it. It is definitely a sweet spirit with a great smoothness and warming rye flavour that sits in the mouth quite easily and pleasantly.
I found that the sweeter notes of the honey and caramelised sugars actually took me back to the sweet alcoholic version of a hot toddy, very enjoyable.
it is very spicy, peppery liquor to try. The initial taste is very interesting. It’s like a lovely combination of spicy and peppery notes.
The honey, caramelised sugars and sweetness are well-defined and definitely make an interesting cranberry, in a nice way, and the rye is there, but not in the forefront.
The sweeter notes are very present and dominate the initial taste, and then the rye and oaky notes come out, but are not as noticeable as the honey and caramelised sugar.
The sweetness flavours the spirit and gives it a nice, sugary and slightly sweet character. Overall, the drinkability of Old overholt Ryes is excellent. It has that sweetness, that sweetness but it is balanced out by the rye and oak notes.
Tanqueray Bloomsbury Gin Review 2:
Tanqueray Bloomsbury is a refreshing take on the classic Bombay gin. The nose is more herbal than usual, and an aroma of lemon, alfalfa and anise. Behind that, the citrus notes are probably more apparent in the finished product than in the uncut raw ingredients. The palate has a crisp, clean entry with citrus on soft background notes.
Tanqueray Bloomsbury is a good gin to mix into a martini. It’s quite dry, pleasantly sweet and has good mouthfeel.
Tanqueray Bloomsbury is a pleasant gin to begin mixing into martinis. As it’s not as sweet as, say, Bombay Sapphire, it works nicely in a martini. The finish is delicate, slightly sweet, not too astringent, and would work well in aromatized cocktails such as eggnog or the eponymous Bloomsbury.
It’s got a nice orange flavour, you can smell some lemon in there and also some oak. It’s smooth and very well balanced. It actually reminds me of some of the lighter gins.
