Now, you may have already read my blog posts about Elg gin No. 1, No. 2 and No. 3. Today we try the fourth gin in their range. You probably know my feelings about colour changing gin; it’s usually achieved by adding something to the distillation that has no effect on the flavour and is only added for the colour. This gin is different. Elg gin uses three botanicals – juniper, coriander seed and Danish carrots and the only difference between their No. 1 gin and this one is that the carrots used are Danish black carrots. These are soaked in pure wheat alcohol for three days which results in the rich colour which is filled with natural antioxidants. I know that this is still done for the colour, but at least the botanical is also adding the flavour – and it is the same botanical as their usual recipe. Let’s see how this one compares to the rest.

Opening the bottle and the juniper is obvious – like in all of their range. The number of botanicals allows the juniper to really shine through. I’m not picking up the carrots as much from the smell as I have done with the previous editions – although again, is this a trick of the mind because I know it is carrots? In the glass, you just get a strong, juniper led ethanol. Not unpleasant, but also not the most appetising of smells. Adding a touch of water does nothing to the colour but does add some depth to the smell. The ehtanol fades and a woodiness comes out. On the tongue, the ethanol is back to being pretty obvious, and indeed the ‘alcohol burn’ is pretty strong. Not much flavour comes through when it is straight other than a heat on the tip of the tongue.

Mixed with Fever Tree tonic, absolutely nothing happens (photo evidence above and video evidence below). Either I have completely misunderstood this, or my gin is broken. It is slightly lighter in colour, but I think this is more due to the dilution of the gin. That was pretty underwhelming. Let’s hope the taste has changed more than the colour. I’m not so convinced. The tonic has certainly taken some of the sharpness out of the alcohol and it is ever so slightly sweeter on the tip of the tongue, but other than that it just kind of burns. This is really disappointing after the past three were so good. This tastes like the good ol’ days at university when you drank the cheapest bottle of spirits an were used to it burning on the way down. Buy Elg gin 1 through to 3, and stop there. Unimpressed.

I should note I added more tonic after this and it tastes better. After faffing around getting the pictures and video uploaded, it is now a lighter pink so perhaps you just need loads of tonic and more patience than I have.

You can’t really buy Elg Gin anywhere at the moment, which I’m not that upset about for this one tbh. But you can follow them on Facebook and Instagram.

Have you tried Elg No.4? Let me know what you think on Twitter and Instagram.