Twelve gins you should be drinking with your tonic
Nothing beats sipping a crisp gin in the sunshine. Our friends at The Whisky Exchange have suggested eleven of the best labels on the market. If you’re hankering for something a little bit different, look no further: these gins are just the tonic
Brookie’s Dry Gin
£39.95
News from Down Under that should perk up any gin-lover: Cape Byron Distillery is bringing its award-winning gins to the UK. The standout bottle is Brookie’s Byron Dry Gin, a collaboration between master distiller Jim McEwan and the brand's co-founder Eddie Brook. This is very much a local product: of the 25 botanicals used, 18 are native to the Byron Bay Region. The Brook family is committed to regenerating the rainforest that surrounds the distillery, a natural pantry for the ingredients. Great gin, great cause – something worth drinking to. thewhiskyexchange.com
Caorunn
70CL / 41.1% – £28.45
Caorunn is a small-batch gin handcrafted in the Scottish Highlands. Alongside six traditional gin botanicals, it’s infused with five locally foraged ones: dandelion, heather, coul blush apple, bog myrtle and rowan berry. It’s the last ingredient that gives the gin its name: the word Caorunn comes from the Gaelic name for rowan berry, which grows wild within a five-minute walk from the distillery.
Garden Tiger Gin
50cl / 47% - £34.35
Launched in Autumn 2016, this is already consistently in our top 30 selling products (out of 9,800) every month! Barney Wilczak produces this in his garden in Gloucestershire using 34 botanicals, including fresh Sicilian blood orange zest and lime-tree flowers. It’s The Whisky Exchange’s Spirit of The Year 2017 and you honestly will never have tasted anything like it.
Rutte Celery Gin
70cl / 43% - £38.55
Dutch botanical distillers since 1872, Rutte has nearly 150 years of distillation experience, and celery has been used in Rutte’s products for generations but this isn’t the usual celery we all either love or hate. This is a delicate species of celery that offers floral and citrus notes and works well with a little cardamom that’s included too. Makes a delicious Red Snapper – just use instead of vodka in a Bloody Mary recipe.
Elephant Sloe Gin
50cl / 35% - £33.25
Why not do a little good whilst drinking your gin? 15% of all profits from Elephant Gin goes to two African elephant charities. This delicious sloe gin is made in Germany with real sloe berries macerated in Elephant London Dry Gin for several months. Expect a sweet yet tart finish that's perfect with tonic.
Hibernation Gin, Dyfi Distillery
50cl / 45% - £42.95
The only Welsh gin you need to know! These guys are taking botanicals to the next level - 20 of the 29 mostly fresh, not dried, botanicals are foraged from the Dyfi Valley in Wales, a UNESCO World Biosphere. It is also the first gin to be over-wintered in white port barrels.
Hepple Gin
70cl / 45% - £36.55
Hepple Gin is a project between chef Valentine Warner and drinks maestro Nick Strangeway, with the help of master distiller Chris Garden. Through a link with the Hepple Estate, Hepple Gin is committed to restoring juniper to the British countryside. As well as promoting the healthy growth of the current juniper at Hepple, the team has started a successful propagation programme from the estate’s native juniper seed. Vibrant, intense and full of citrus and juniper flavour. The brand has pedigree: Hepple won a Double Gold at the San Francisco World Spirits Competition 2017, a tremendous achievement.
Four Pillars Bloody Shiraz
70cl / 37.8% - £41.45
This Australian creation is a gin for wine lovers. The clever bods at Four Pillars steep whole Shiraz grapes from the Yarra Valley in the distillery's high-strength Rare Dry Gin for eight weeks. The result is a gin with notes of juniper, spice and raspberries that goes well with tonic or soda.
St George Terroir Gin
70cl / 45% - £42.55
We’d all like a little piece of California in our lives and this gin from St George Spirits is inspired by '...the wild beauty of the Golden State' and packed with local botanicals including Douglas Fir, Bay Laurel and Coastal Sage. And an interesting fact…the distillery is based in a 65,000 sq ft airplane hanger at the Alameda Naval Air Station!
City of London Square Mile Gin
70cl / 47.3% - £43.95
And how could we create a list for Square Mile without including this? It is made at the City of London distillery which opened in 2012, bringing distilling back to the City for the first time in nearly 200 years. It’s creamy and rich with a spicy finish.
East London Liquor Company Premium Gin Batch No.2
70cl / 47% - £33.95
These guys are creating amazing gins from one of East London’s most well-known historical sites, the old glue factory in Bow Wharf. Batch No.2 is made with 100% British wheat spirit and botanicals including juniper, coriander seeds, thyme, winter savoury, fennel seed, lavender, lemon peel, sage and bay leaf – a delicious savoury, herby blend.
Tanqueray No.10
70cl / 47.3% - £30.55
No gin list is complete without the absolute classic that is Tanqueray No.10 – a small-batch production from this well-known. Expect lots of citrus notes and a very clean and refreshing experience. This is the gin for a Martini.
