The Aviation

Aviation Cocktail Review

    Lemon and a hint of violet on the nose. Not much from the gin at all. In person, especially when it's a bit dimmer, the purple from the Creme de Violette comes through a bit more. I would describe the mouth feel as light, it almost took me a minute to realize it was there. The flavors involved are also really delicate as well. I'll say that this isn't a drink for everyone. A lot of people don't like gin already, and some people are really adverse to the Creme de Violette, calling it "soapy". I can understand how people detect soap in this. To me, while I could interpret that as soapy, it's not really chemically, and the texture and natural rejection of getting soap in your mouth is not present, so I get some flavors that some people associate with soaps, but I do not mind it. It is a very airy, almost wispy flavor. You're not working with any "heavy" flavors here. Everything is light. It really is hard to detect much at first at all, after it's had a second in my mouth, I begin to get some violet, then a little bit of lemon, but it's not sour, the sweetness is honestly very well balanced, but it is a lemon flavor, and I couldn't taste any gin until I swallowed it, and had a bit of air pass over the bits that lingered in my mouth. Maybe a hint of some juniper and some citrus notes as well. As I type in between sips, it leaves a violet note in my mouth, almost coming full circle for the drink. If you don't like violet, if it's going to remind you of soap, you will hate this drink. For me, it's not something I'm going to make often, but I don't find it appalling or anything. It is very well balanced, and it's certainly unique. I would give it a 6/10.

My Spec

My spec is:
1 1/2 oz of London Dry Gin (I used ford's)
1/2 oz Maraschino Liqueur (Luxardo)
1/2 oz Lemon Juice
1 heavy barspoon Creme de Violette (I used rothman and winter)
I stirred it with a lemon peel, and made sure to get some oils in the drink, and I garnished it with a maraschino cherry. Some people would shake this drink because it has lemon juice, however, it leads to more fine air bubbles in the drink, and with the light yellow lemon juice, and the dark purple violette, it can make the drink very grey. I personally stirred mine to maintain a more purple color.

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