You and I are similar on cucumber vs. Hendrick's. I barely tolerate it in food. About the only thing I eat it in is tzatziki sauce, and even there I pick some of the chunks out with my fork. Its infusion in Hendrick's doesn't taste cucumber-y at all. It just makes the gin taste smooth.

Empress is one of the gins on my radar for trying in the future. ATM, though, it's lower on the list than Citadelle and G&J Greenalls. Have you tried either of those? And— just curious— is Buckley's, an Irish gin I bought in California, a common sight in Ireland?