Love this Gordon’s ad. Love love love love. Life mag, July 5, 1937.
First, I love the stem glass, especially the stem, but also the bowl. The other glassware, the ice bucket, the martini pitcher. All lovely, and all items I now covet. I love that the martini has a bit of color to it, perhaps from the vermouth that was used.
Here’s the text, if you want to read it:
But I also really love the bottle. Let’s look at that in fancy giant size.
Check out the detail! The weird cap with the wire-twist enclosure. The juniper berries. The boar’s head. The words NEW JERSEY embossed on the bottle side. And, of course, the proof: 94.4. (If Wikipedia is accurate, bottlings sold in continental Europe are sold at 94.6, or 47.3% abv.)
Some hot stuff here, folks. These are the gems that keep me coming back to this feature.
I wonder how well viewed Gordon’s was back then? It doesn’t garner much respect now, but the drinks I have had made with it at two bars here have worked well. In one instance, I was only annoyed that the menu said made with Plymouth Gin and then watched the bartender try a fast one by subbing the gin that only cost 40% as much. For the rest of the instances, I have been fine since it was listed on the menu as such.
Yeah, it’s hard to say. I know very little about that aspect of the social history of these booze brands. I wish I knew more.
Gordon’s in the US obviously is a bottom-shelf brand. But take some time and look at the website for Gordon’s UK. It’s positioned a little more upscale there, which is interesting.
Subbing Gordon’s for Plymouth without saying so is a dick move.
I do remember being in the Boston Shaker when Andrea was working there. Some women were hosting a bachelorette party or similar at the Shaker by taking one of his private drink making classes. When they took out the bottle of Gordon’s, Adam sent them away to go get something better.
Your SeriousEats companion Will agrees with me that the stuff’s not bad:
http://drinks.seriouseats.com/2011/03/drinking-the-bottom-shelf-gordons-london-dry-gin-best-cheap-gin.html
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