Sensory characterization of dry gins with different volatile profiles.

The aim of this study was the sensory characterization of dry gins in relation to their chemical volatile composition. The development of a specific vocabulary was necessary as a basis for quality control and to ensure the brand flavor integrity. The lexicon was obtained according to ISO 11035 (1994), on the basis of discussions between the panelists and the panel leader, reference materials, and an aroma wheel. Ten notes of the preliminary vocabulary were reduced by calculating the geometric mean (M) and applying ANOVA and principal component analysis. Finally, juniper, citric, aniseed, spice, and licorice were applied to describe 4 London Dry Gins (G1 to G4) and 2 gins with geographic indications (G5 and G6) by generic descriptive analysis (GDA). The latter were characterized by citric and juniper notes, respectively, while G 1 was characterized by spice and aniseed attributes. Licorice was uniform in all of the samples. Chemical volatile composition of samples obtained by headspace-solid phase microextraction (HS-SPME) coupled with gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) was in agreement with the sensory results.