Hendrick's Flora Adora Gin (700ml)

Other reviews... The base spirit includes all the elements of Hendrick’s core distillate — including rose and cucumber, which already makes Hendrick’s on the floral side to begin with — but let’s see where these extra blossoms take us. The answer: Deep into the recesses of the perfume counter. Hendrick’s Flora Adora is — unequivocally — the most floral gin I’ve ever experienced, from start to finish. Aggressive notes of lavender and lilac give the nose a distinctly laundry-like feel, although the essence of grandma’s bathroom isn’t far away. Baby powder and potpourri wash out any semblance of juniper — or cucumber — though the rose petals linger. The palate is a slightly more complex than the nose, but only just so: This is still monstrously dominated by floral notes, washing out most everything else. Give those dried and fresh flowers time to dissipate from the tongue and eventually you earn a respite in the form of mild juniper and earthy angelica, but the trip into the forest is a decidedly lengthy one, and honestly not all that exciting of a journey. The florals here clash with just about anything you might decide to mix with it; Hendrick’s cocktail ideas are mostly loaded with fruit juice and sweeteners, but even those can only go so far in covering up the flowery explosion. The finish sees lavender and dryer sheets lingering just about forever. Maybe something you can use for punch at a Mother’s Day brunch? - drinkhacker.com

...This is the fourth entry into the company’s Cabinet of Curiosities series, the experimental side of Hendrick’s that is built around Master Distiller Lesley Gracie’s ongoing experimentation in the palatial splendor of the Hendrick’s Gin Palace in Girvan, Scotland. Gracie says that the series “aims to celebrate the peculiar and instill wonder,” with Flora Adora, as the name would suggest, putting special emphasis on floral botanicals and plants favored by pollinators. Gracie observed insects in the brand’s two climate-controlled gardens, saying “I was fascinated to see how pollinators settled on some plants more than others and it’s these blooms that I’ve carefully selected to create this botanical blend.”... On the palate, I’m getting big orange oil and fresh pepper in addition to the more expected floral notes, with heavy rose, violet and elderflower. The sweetness is quite strong for even a modern gin, which to me enhances that elderflower-type impression by reminding one of the influence of a liqueur like St-Germain. The gin does maintain a decent amount of prickly heat to it as well, though–certainly enough that it should stand out in cocktails. As for how one would use Flora Adora, I find myself wondering if it might be a bit on the sweet side for some consumers when mixed with tonic in particular. I would be curious to see how this plays in some other cocktails, though–it would likely make an intriguingly floral French 75, or an oddly exotic martini. As it typically the case, Hendrick’s has gone out and made something unique, for which there are few comparisons. - Paste Magazine.