Sipsmith Gin x Lost Whale

Recently, I had the pleasure of attending an event featuring Sipsmith Gin at one of Milwaukee’s many eclectic bars. The setting for the evening was the Lost Whale, newly opened and nestled between the Walker’s Point and Bayview regions of the city. Iron Grate BBQ prepared impressive spreads of snacks to accompany the conversation and drinks of the evening.

A spread fit for a king.

After some greeting, a bit of history about Sipsmith and a couple words about gin as a whole, we got to sit down and dig into the gin.

It is important to note that I was anxious to attend this particular event because Sipsmith gin is both well regarded, and also completely unavailable in the Midwest (Note: some lucky regions of Illinois have received distribution). Trying something new is fun but trying something new that you wish you could go out and buy but can’t is generally even more fun. Thankfully, after chatting with Adam Ellesmere and Kelly Rivers, they informed us that Sipsmith will be coming to Midwest distribution, so the wait would be over sometime in the fall.

There were three gins on the menu for the evening, and a variety of gin cocktails. Let’s start with the gins, neat. Sipsmith brought out their London Dry Gin, their Sloe Gin, and their V.J.O.P Gin, better known as ‘Very Juniper Over Proof’. After reading that, I muttered a shiba “much wow” to myself and refocused. Adam walked us through the history of how each product came to me. One thing that really stood out was the methodology behind the VJOP. They use three times the juniper for this release, but rather than infusing with 300% more juniper, they add some in distillation, vapor infuse an equal share, and then steep an equal share using a “saute” method. Not a lot was said about the specifics of their saute method, but I took it to simply mean that there would be a whole lot more botanical influence in the Very Juniper.

The gins, ready to be downed.

Here are some of the notes I mentally took down about each:

London Dry: Good, solid structure. Hair on the sweet side with rich herbal notes thanks to healthy amount of anise. Not super juniper-y, although present. Not at all astringent, or plastic like. Enjoyable.

Sloe Gin: A bit sweet, but not cloying. Really nice fruit body. Good spice to balance. Would make a baller fizz. While this was sweet, I enjoyed the mulled spices to balance the syrupy fruits.

VJOP: Really nice mouth feel. Proof is evident, but not punishing. Lots of vanilla, orange, berry. Like a creamsicle. For having significantly more juniper, it didn’t come through in the palate much. Feature, not a bug, to me. This was a risk to become a pine bomb, but the balance and complexity was there.

I have to admit, Sipsmith did pretty well in toeing the line between flavor and overpowering, especially in the VJOP. This may be great, but there’s no secret that the vast majority of gin drinks prefer cocktails or gin on the rocks. Could the spirit stand up to cocktails?

I went ahead and tried a pair of signature cocktails being prepared by the Lost Whale, and mooched a bit of a buddy’s, as well.

Kicking off with the ‘Top of the Top’ – a recipe containing London Dry, Strawberry Top, VJOP, Vermouth and Whale – I noticed that the London Dry lost some character to the fruit and vermouth but played well with the VJOP. Overall, it would have been a nice choice for a hot day on a patio, because it was sweet but faintly so, which paired nicely with the fruity effervescence and a cucumber slice.

Top the Top

Next, I settled on something a little more exotic. Ordering up a ‘Bump and Grind, I was handed a nice concoction containing sloe gin, tonic, Jamaican bitters and rosemary. This was an interesting swatch of flavors, but the sum of the parts worked well together, also. The mulling spices may have been too much for some, but resting for a minute or two with the generous helping of ice dialed back the Christmas notes and really let the gin, bitters and herbs mingle nicely. I think a dash of soda water may have taken things from good to great, but I have no complaints with the competence of the cocktail staff at Whale. The presentation for both was excellent.

Bump and Grind

Overall, I enjoyed my time with Sipsmith, and I’m looking forward to the rest of their products being available for purchase here in lovely Milwaukee, Wisconsin. As is my routine, I like to drink through a bottle whenever I can to formulate a review, and I look forward to that experience with the bottle of their London Dry that I purchased at the event while I wait for their Sloe and VJOP to become available for myself to purchase as well.

In the meantime, if you’re looking for other gin reviews, head over and check out the gins I’ve enjoyed so far, or peruse my review library if you’re maybe looking for something new and different.

Thanks for reading!



