A HS-SPME method coupled to GC-MS was developed and applied for the qualitative and semiquantitative characterization of distilled gin volatile fraction. Sampling, chromatographic conditions, and method performances were evaluated, and the developed method was applied as a comparative study of some of the most popular commercial London Dry Gins and other gins with geographic denominations. During this study, 70 components of the gins' volatile fraction were isolated, tentatively identified or identified by reference compounds. They were mainly represented by mono- and sesquiterpenic compounds, which were quantitatively determined. The comparative study of London Dry Gins and gins with geographical indication permitted clear differentiation between the gins with geographical indication and one of the London Dry Gins tested.

No abstract

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.