Name: Greylock Gin

Type: London Dry Gin, 94 proof 

Source: Berkshire Mountain Distillers, Great Barrington, MA

Greylock is a London Dry Gin produced in small batches in Great Barrington, on the far western edge of Massachusetts. You can find it in some restaurants throughout the Berkshires, but as I write this it is not easy to find closer to Boston.

Greylock is my favorite gin for Pink Gin, for some Martinis, and it is one of my favorites for simply sipping. It is not floral like Bombay Sapphire or Old Raj, nor is it really steely like Beefeater or Bombay Dry Gin. It has some piney-sprucey notes, but not as pronounced as 209 or some other current western gins.  I find Greylock to have a neutral mineral flavor that reminds me of cool shady pine woods and wet granite.

Everyone's palate is unique, and even more unique are the associations we form based on our experiences. For me, Greylock Gin is evocative of Merrifield, a summer cottage in the Berkshire mountains that my family went to when I was a kid. It's funny how a sip on a summer afternoon can recall a mountain stream by a pine cathedral not seen for 40 years!