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There are now several hundred gins available in Britain, and the vast majority of them are variations on four or five underlying ideas. Lists of the best gin brands tend to be unhelpful because they rank bottles that are not trying to do the same thing, which is a bit like ranking a saw against a hammer.
The more useful approach is to work out which style you want, then pick a well-made example of it. Here are the categories that matter, what defines each one, and the names that are worth your attention within them.
This is the reference category, and every other style is defined by how far it departs from it. Expect dry pine, a citrus lift from lemon and orange peel in the still, and coriander seed providing a slightly spicy, aromatic backbone.
Tanqueray and Beefeater are the two most widely available benchmarks, both juniper-forward, both dry, both entirely reliable in a gin and tonic or a Negroni. Sipsmith brought the small-batch London Dry style back into the mainstream and is a touch softer and rounder. Tanqueray No. Ten is the same house at higher strength with fresh citrus in the still, and it makes a noticeably better Martini than most.
If you are buying one gin, buy from this group. They do everything, they are forgiving with cheap tonic, and they are the standard against which you will judge everything else you try.
These push lemon, grapefruit and sometimes bergamot to the front while keeping juniper present but less dominant. They are excellent in long drinks, in anything with a sour element, and for people who find classic gin too austere.
Malfy from Italy is built explicitly around lemon and blood orange and is unashamedly fruity. Tanqueray No. Ten again fits here as the more restrained option. Bombay Sapphire sits between citrus and floral and is milder than its reputation suggests, which makes it very approachable but easily overwhelmed by a strongly flavoured tonic.
The mistake with this category is over-garnishing. A citrus gin plus a slice of lemon plus a lemon tonic produces a drink that has lost all its structure. Use orange peel instead and let the gin do the work.
This is where the modern gin boom really happened. These gins push juniper into a supporting role and build around roses, cucumber, elderflower, chamomile or lavender.
Hendrick s is the definitive example, with cucumber and rose giving a soft, perfumed character that converted an enormous number of people to gin. Gin Mare from Spain takes the same idea in a Mediterranean direction with olive, rosemary, thyme and basil, and it makes an unusual, savoury Martini that is worth trying at least once.
These gins reward careful serving. They are easily flattened by aggressive tonic, so use a plain Indian tonic rather than anything flavoured, and garnish lightly with cucumber or a strip of lime peel rather than lemon.
At the intense end of the shelf sit gins with large botanical counts and pronounced warm spice. Monkey 47 from the Black Forest uses forty seven botanicals and is dense, complex and slightly medicinal, with cranberry and pepper alongside the juniper. It is a gin to sip and to think about rather than to pour casually.
Roku from Japan is the gentler proposition in this group, built around six Japanese botanicals including sakura flower, yuzu peel and sencha tea, giving a delicate, layered character that is very different from European gin without being difficult.
Both are better served with less tonic than you would use for a classic gin, since the botanicals need room rather than dilution.
Navy strength means 57 per cent alcohol or above, a designation with genuine historical roots in the Royal Navy. The point is not machismo. Higher strength carries aromatic compounds more effectively and stands up to dilution, which is exactly what you want in a drink built over ice or shaken with citrus.
Plymouth Navy Strength is the traditional example and is unexpectedly balanced for its strength. Any navy strength gin will transform a gin and tonic that has been tasting weak, because the problem was almost certainly dilution rather than the gin itself.
More generally, bottling strength is the most underrated number on a gin label. A 37.5 per cent gin will disappear in a long drink no matter how good the botanicals are. Forty per cent is workable, 43 to 47 per cent is the sweet spot for mixing.
Two bottles cover almost everyone. Start with a classic London Dry, which handles every standard drink. Then add one contrasting bottle in whichever direction interests you, whether that is citrus, floral or spiced. Those two will give you genuine variety without duplication.
Add navy strength third if you make cocktails regularly, and a Japanese or Mediterranean gin fourth if you have found that you enjoy exploring rather than repeating.
Taste anything new neat at room temperature before you mix it. Two minutes with a small measure in a wine glass tells you more about what you have bought than a whole evening of gin and tonics, because tonic flattens the differences you are paying for. You will find a broad selection in the spirits range, and it is worth ordering two contrasting styles at once so you can compare them side by side.
If you fancy starting tonight, we deliver across London inside the M25 in 30 to 45 minutes, 24 hours a day, along with tonic, ice and anything from the beer and wine shelves. Have a look at the areas we cover before you order.
Please drink responsibly. Drinks House 247 operates a Challenge 21 policy - you must be 18 or over to order, and our drivers will ask for photo ID if you look under 21.
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