Knock, Knock, Knocking on Death's Door...

Deaths Door Gin as pictured by Sofia Miranda

Death's Door is an American gin distilled in Madison, Wisconsin, named after a treacherous passage between Door County and Washington Island. It is made from organic, wheat, barley and botanicals from Washington Island with a view to restoring the farming in the area whilst protecting the local environment.


The base for the spirit is locally grown, organic hard red winter wheat and malted barley. This 60:40 blend of wheat to malted barley makes an exceptionally smooth base spirit with a subtle malty character, not dissimilar to that of a jonge genever. This base is then infused with three simple botanicals, Juniper, Coriander and Fennel, a surprisingly small number considering gins like Citadelle utilise nineteen botanicals, but i must say the combination of these three botanicals with the exceptional base spirit create an intense yet well rounded product.


The nose is very heavy on the juniper with some malty character shining through followed by spicy notes of the coriander. On the palate it's as if all three botanicals get in line to make their appearance, first that lovely juniper hit followed by a peppery spice from the coriander which lingers as a sweet anise flavour from the fennel comes through at the end. Considering this gin is bottled at 47% abv it is remarkably smooth, a perfect gin made in a bold, classic style, I could imagine Churchill imbibing this gin in a dry martini with just a nod to France to satisfy his need for vermouth. Despite the rather high price tag I would certainly recommend this product, a must have in any gin cabinet.


We Hope You Enjoy


Umpleby & Brown