That’s an odd article. The winery is in Johnson City, but they say it’s a High Plains wine? I guess either the grapes are grown on the Plains, or the article is confused?
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High Plains is the major wine grape growing region in Texas. Not uncommon for folks in the Hill Country to buy fruit from up there and have it trucked down to their wineries. Pretty common practice here in California as well (hauling fruit from different regions to the winery).
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When the bar manager at my favorite local watering hole sees me walk in, and he’s got a new gin order, he quietly grabs it off the shelf and hands it to me for my perusal. I’m very frequently the first patron to even see the new bottle. I hadn’t even heard of this one. I’m sipping on it now, straight up, and it’s quite nice. I pick up the orange up front, and not really the flavor of the cacao, but more like… the warmth? of it. Next endeavor, which will happen shortly, will be drinking it in soda to see how it holds up.
I’ve never had a barkeep attend to my imbibement preferences until now. It’s pretty cool.
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I don’t drink a lot of gin, but Hendricks is the gin i drink
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Get a bottle of Plymouth. You’re welcome.
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Is that different from regular Hendricks?
That’s a flavored Hendricks. I have always drunk some gin, and I like Hendricks. It’s my wife’s martini of choice, though it’s usually not touted as a martini gin. For years I would drink nothing but Boodles, and am still fond of it. It also has the advantage of being remarkably cheap. As I understand it, Plymouth is a different style of gin than, say, Beefeater, and its origin has something to do with the British navy. Next time I go out a’buying, I’ll buy a bottle. Old Tom gins can also be pretty great.
ETA: As an aside, I started drinking Boodles because long ago that was the gin of choice for Travis McGee, but only after Plymouth wasn’t available in the States.
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It is. I suppose this is called a flavored gin, but I wouldn’t say it’s actively flavored, not like a sloe gin or elderflower gin is flavored. I’d say it’s more… essenced, perhaps, than flavored. I can pick up the notes of those ingredients. This smells herby, like regular Hendrick’s, but not quite as juniper-forward.
My overall favorite gin-- York Gin, which is not available in the U.S.-- has an outright flavored chocolate orange gin, which pays homage to the now-gone factory in York that used to make those chocolate orange candies that were popular in Christmas stockings. That is definitely a flavored gin, as the chocolate and orange were very up front, and that version wasn’t my favorite. It was neat to try, but not something I’d drink regularly at all. I much preferred their standard, the Navy strength, and the Old Tom.
Follow-up, this Hendrick’s very nice in soda. I’ll have to figure out how next to try it. Maybe in an Army-Navy, as it might be well complimented by the orgèat.
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The most underrated gins according to experts
Anyone try these? I’ve had Roku once, I believe, and wasn’t a big fan.
I had Ford’s Gin the other day. First time. I quite liked it with soda and lime. I feel like drinking it with tonic would be a little too strong.
Ford’s and Plymouth are our house gins. They’re versatile and definitely work well with the right tonic (we’re fans of Fever Tree). I’m also particularly fond of a properly made Ford’s martini.
Fever Tree makes a really good ginger beer too. I prefer it for my Dark n’ Stormy.
Good to know. I usually go with Bundaberg for ginger beer (have a bottle sitting in the fridge right now, actually).
I’m at CavernFest 2026 in Carlsbad, NM. Drinking Elephants on Parade raspberry wheat, from Bosque Brewing in Albuquerque. Not bad on the warm, beautiful June day.
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I’m gonna be in Hobbs Monday, I’ll look for some, if it is sold in New Mexico stores.
Santa Fe, Bosque, and La Cumbre are my three favorite New Mexico breweries.
Mrs Hawk an I were in Marfa last weekend and had a prickly pear sotol margarita. I bought some of the sotol and prickly pear juice. Just mixed my first at home. It’s REALLY good.
Sotol is fascinating. Not sure if you’ve heard this or not, but in Mexico the Sotoleros have a horrible reputation and Sotol is for poor drunks.
That aside, the plant is indigenous to West Texas but there’s more than a bit of controversy about whether the spirit produced in Texas can carry the name Sotol because it’s not from Chihuahua.
Did you eat at Cochineal while you were in Marfa?
Yes, we ate at Cochineal. It was excellent, as one would expect. Alexandra, owner and executive chef, was also acting as hostess and food runner, as she said she was shorthanded that night. She was extremely welcoming and gracious. The only downside was that the couple at the next table got the very last artichoke.
Bastards.
Would love to eat Cochineal and also hit up the Gage Hotel in Marathon. I’ve only heard great things about both.