The 15 best gins: 15 great gin brands tried, tested and ranked
The best gin, ranked and taste tested.
Choosing the best gin is not an easy thing. Everyone's taste buds are different and thanks to the sheer amount of gin brands available right now (we seriously aren't complaining here), the choice can be overwhelming.
That's because gin has, quite deservedly, seen an explosion - there's been many varieties and gin brands over recent years, which means there are plenty to choose from.
Between 2010 and 2017, the amount of distilleries making gin have trebled and the reason is a simple one: in 2009, gin production rules were loosened and this allowed craft gin makers in to create creative versions of the juniper juice in smaller batches.
Research from Mintel suggests that almost three in ten (28%) adults aged 24-31, described as 'Younger Millennials', drink at home because they say it takes too much effort to go out. This means that, for many, the drink options you can pick up at your local supermarket are having a boom in popularity.
And that's where we circle back to the initial problem: when it comes to picking the best gin, there are bloody loads.
Too many, if anything, so we’ve done you a favour and sieved through the rest and brought you the 15 best gins, all test tasted by the Shortlist team.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
15. Caorunn
Handcrafted in small batches at Balmenach Distillery in Scotland’s Speyside region, Caorunn is an unusually herbal experience thanks to its use of Rowan Berry. The well balanced fruity flavours of the gin make it exceedingly drinkable: dry and crisp when neat, use tonic sparingly so as not to lose its subtle notes.
14. Brockmans Intensely Smooth
You might not be surprised to hear Brockmans Intensely Smooth is… intensely smooth. Like having George Clooney pull out your chair and light you a cigarette… only a gin. Made with Bulgarian coriander, blueberries, blackberries, and bittersweet Valencia orange peels, the result is a gin bursting with flavour that doesn’t forgo balance for punch.
13. Beefeater 24
Made in the heart of London at the Kennington distillery using a recipe that took eighteen months to develop, Beefeater 24 includes Seville orange peel, lemon peel, bitter almond, angelica root, angelica seed, juniper, liquorice, orris root, coriander, and a blend of Chinese green and Japanese sencha teas with grapefruit peel. What does that mean? Well, it means a liquorice-influenced finish means that you won’t forget drinking it. Save until late in the evening.
12. Martin Miller’s
This is our favourite summer gin thanks to its slight, but not intense, perfumed charm. A self-consciously ‘old-school’ gin (despite being first created in 1990), distiller Martin Miller wanted to create a gin that “tasted of gin” and not, in his words, “of some highly flavoured confection”. Distilled in the Black Country from ten botanicals, Miller’s is blended with Icelandic water to simple, stunning effect.
11. William Chase
This is the ultimate tonic partner, with flavours of juniper, apple and elderflower alongside subtle citrus. Some serve with a slice of fresh apple but we like it just the way it is. The finished gin is distilled over 100 times with the entire process taking over two years, from orchard to bottle. You can genuinely taste the effort that goes into it. And it 48% you can taste the booze that goes into it. Treat it with care.