In our Winter Gins To Try Before You Die edition, we’re featuring gins with festive flavours, as well as some brilliant new finds that everyone should be talking about.
1. Treat yourself this festive season with a Cocoa Gin from Hotel Chocolat. With bursts of juniper, fragrant coriander, minneolas and rounded, bitter cocoa shells, it’s delicious on its own or with tonic. £25, 500ml, hotelchocolat.com
2. For some Yuletide bliss, try Edinburgh Gin’s Christmas Gin. It has aromatic notes of frankincense and myrrh and lingering spice from cinnamon and nutmeg, making it a brilliant winter warmer. £35, 70cl, edinburghgin.com
3. This Sussex Dry Gin from Slake Spirits is picked, blended and bottled by hand. It has notes of juniper, coriander and citrus, with flavours of lemon balm and lemon verbena. For the perfect G&T, serve it over ice with Fever-Tree Mediterranean tonic. £35, 500ml, slakespirits.com
4. Recently winning ‘Best Irish Gin’ at the Irish Whiskey Awards, Dingle Gin features botanicals rowan berry, hawthorn and heather for a taste of the Kerry landscape, creating a fresh and floral gin. £30, 70cl, dingledistillery.ie
5. Forest Gin is distilled in small batches at The Forest Distillery in the Macclesfield Forest in Cheshire. A maximum of 85 bottles are made at a time, and it’s the only gin to have been awarded two separate Double-Gold Medals at the San Francisco World Spirit Awards, making it one of the finest spirits in the world. £59.50, 700ml, forestgin.com
6. GINRAW comes all the way from Barcelona and brings together a chef, a sommelier, a mixologist and a maître parfumeur to create a gin that captures the spirit of Barcelona. With botanicals kaffir lime leave, lemon, citron, cardamom, coriander and laurel, this gin is floral and fresh with a subtle smokiness. About £50, 70cl, ginraw.com
7. Based in the heart of England, The Naked Marshmallow Co. produces hand-made marshmallow in a range of unique and delicious flavours … and now it’s gone one step further with a Marshmallow Gin infused with handmade vanilla bean marshmallows. We’re in! Sold. £32, 500ml, nakedmarshmallow.co.uk
8. Hand-picked from local orchards, Sloemotion’s Damson Gin is a traditional, fruity Ryedale tipple that nods to the North Yorkshire region’s damson growing heritage. £27.95, 70cl, sloemotion.com
9. Drumshanbo Gunpowder Gin is a deliciously smooth gin that combines vapour-infused oriental lemon and lime, fresh grapefruit and gunpowder tea for an exotic blend. £32.99, 500ml, gunpowdergin.com
10. The ingredients used to make Wight Mermaids Gin really pay homage to its location on the Isle of Wight. Rock samphire is hand-picked from the chalk cliffs, while the Boadicea hops are grown at the famous Ventnor Botanic Garden. The end result is a smooth and slightly sweet peppery gin with hints of citrus. £36.50, 70cl, isleofwightdistillery.com
