Smeaton’s Spirit Academy

The Spirits Academy responds to requests for articles discussing spirits in detail.  

In this second article, we consider gin in all its forms.

Gin is among the most familiar of spirits, yet its definition is surprisingly precise. At its simplest, Gin is a spirit built around juniper. Beyond that essential ingredient lies an almost limitless range of possibilities: citrus and spice, roots and seeds, flowers and herbs, fresh botanicals and dried.

Two Gins can share several ingredients and still have very little in common in the glass. The reason is simple enough. Ingredients matter, but so does what the distiller does with them. Understanding that distinction is the beginning of understanding Gin.

Gin starts with alcohol. The base is alcohol made from agricultural raw materials, usually highly purified before it reaches the still.

Juniper defines Gin. Its flavour must remain predominantly juniper.

Botanicals create character. The choice, condition and treatment of botanicals shape the aroma, flavour and texture of the finished spirit.

Method matters. Distillation, maceration, vapour infusion and other techniques give the distiller different ways of extracting and shaping botanical character.

Gin is not a single style. Gin, Dry Gin, Distilled Gin and London Dry Gin describe spirits made under different requirements. They are categories, not a hierarchy of quality.

1. Gin begins with alcohol

Before there is Gin, there is alcohol. The starting point is generally a highly purified alcohol made from agricultural raw materials. Grain, sugar beet, potato and other agricultural sources can provide the foundation. By the time it reaches the Gin distillery, however, the character of that original material may be deliberately restrained. Unlike Whisky, where the character of the underlying fermented and distilled spirit remains central to the finished drink, Gin often begins with a relatively neutral foundation. That neutrality is useful. It leaves room for the botanicals to become the principal expression of the spirit.

2. What actually makes Gin Gin?

The answer is juniper. Under the European definition, Gin is a juniper-flavoured spirit drink made using alcohol of agricultural origin. It must have a minimum alcoholic strength of 37.5% ABV, and its taste must be predominantly that of juniper. That requirement gives Gin its identity while leaving extraordinary freedom to the distiller. There is no universal botanical recipe. Coriander, citrus, angelica, orris, liquorice, cardamom and cinnamon are familiar choices, but they are by no means compulsory. A modern Gin might also incorporate flowers, herbs, tea, fruit or other botanicals. The possibilities are broad. The common thread is (or, at least, should be) juniper.

3. Botanicals are where Gin becomes distinctive

If juniper gives Gin its identity, the other botanicals give the distiller the opportunity to create a point of view. Citrus peel can bring brightness and lift. Coriander can contribute citrus-like and spicy notes. Roots can bring earthiness and structure. Spices can add warmth and depth. But botanicals are not simply ingredients in a list. They are physical materials with different properties, and those properties affect the way they behave in alcohol, water, heat and vapour. Fresh and dried botanicals can behave differently. A root does not respond in quite the same way as a citrus peel. A delicate aromatic compound may respond differently to heat from a heavier, less volatile one. So the question is not simply: What botanicals are in the Gin? It is also: What was done with them? That is where the character of Gin begins to become a question of technique.

4. How do botanicals become Gin?

There is more than one way to introduce botanical character into a spirit. Botanicals may be steeped in alcohol, exposed to alcoholic vapour, distilled in the presence of the spirit, or used in other permitted ways. The precise method affects which compounds are extracted and how they appear in the finished Gin. The distinction becomes particularly important when considering Distilled Gin. Under European legislation, Distilled Gin is produced by distilling agricultural alcohol in the presence of juniper and other natural botanicals, subject to defined conditions. A Gin made simply by adding essences or flavourings to alcohol does not qualify as Distilled Gin. The legislation is useful here because it establishes a boundary. But within that boundary, there remains considerable room for interpretation. Distillation is not simply a means of making alcohol stronger. As we explored in the first Spirits Academy article, it is a process of separation and concentration. The behaviour of botanical compounds during that process influences what eventually reaches the glass.

The distiller therefore has two questions to answer: What should go into the Gin? And: How should it be treated?

5. Why does botanical treatment matter?

Consider two Gins made from the same eight botanicals. They need not taste remotely alike. One distiller might macerate the botanicals before distillation. Another might introduce some into the vapour path. One might distil the entire botanical charge together. Another might create separate distillates from individual botanicals and combine them afterwards. The recipe is the same. The spirit is not. This is why a botanical list, although interesting, tells only part of the story. It identifies the ingredients but not the decisions that transform them. Maceration time, temperature, distillation rate, the way vapour meets the botanicals and the point at which different distillates are combined can all influence the result. Gin is therefore less like a fixed recipe than a sequence of decisions.

6. Combined botanical distillation

One established approach is to bring several botanicals together during the same distillation. Some or all of the botanicals may be macerated in the spirit before distillation, while others may be introduced into the vapour path. Whatever the precise arrangement, a number of botanicals share the same distillation environment. This can produce excellent Gin. Indeed, the interaction between botanicals may be precisely what the distiller is seeking. But it also means that the distiller is working with a common set of conditions. Different botanicals respond differently to alcohol, water, heat and time. When they are treated together, the final character emerges from those shared conditions and the interaction between the ingredients. That is one approach to the art of Gin-making. It is not the only one.

7. Individual botanical distillation

A different approach is to distil botanicals individually—or in carefully selected groups—and combine the resulting distillates afterwards. The distinction may sound technical. Its implications are not. Separating the distillations gives the distiller the opportunity to consider each botanical on its own terms. Maceration can be varied. Distillation conditions can be adjusted. Individual distillates can be assessed before they become part of the final blend. The result is a different kind of control. It does not mean that individual distillation automatically produces better Gin. Nor does it make combined distillation inferior. Rather, it gives the distiller more separate elements with which to work. The finished Gin can then be thought of less as a single extraction and more as a composition assembled from individual botanical distillates. That distinction will become important when we look more closely at the different ways Gin can be made.

8. Gin, Dry Gin, Distilled Gin and London Dry Gin

Gin terminology can be confusing because familiar names describe defined categories rather than a straightforward ladder of quality.

Gin is defined principally by juniper. Under the European definition, it is a juniper-flavoured spirit drink made using alcohol of agricultural origin. It must have a minimum alcoholic strength of 37.5% ABV, with juniper remaining the predominant taste.

Dry Gin has a more precise meaning than its everyday use might suggest. The term may be used when the Gin contains no more than 0.1 grams of added sweetening per litre of the finished product, expressed as invert sugar. So Dry Gin does not mean a Gin that tastes dry. It does not necessarily mean highly juniper-forward, citrus-led or lacking in fruit character. It tells us principally about the amount of added sweetness.

Distilled Gin is a more specifically defined category. It is produced by distilling alcohol in the presence of juniper and other natural botanicals, under the conditions laid down by the regulations. Simply adding essences or flavourings to alcohol does not make a Gin a Distilled Gin.

London Dry Gin is a particularly tightly defined form of Distilled Gin. The legal category is called London Gin. It may incorporate the term “dry” when the relevant requirements are met. Among other conditions, its flavour must be imparted exclusively through distillation in the presence of the natural plant materials used; the resulting distillate must contain at least 70% alcohol by volume; and the finished spirit must not be coloured or sweetened beyond the permitted limit. The minimum alcoholic strength is 37.5% ABV. The distinction matters because London Dry Gin is not a quality designation. It tells us something about how the spirit was made. It does not tell us whether it is better than another Gin, or whether we will enjoy drinking it more.

9. What makes one Gin taste different from another?

Once the definition of Gin is understood, a more interesting question presents itself. Why can two Gins taste so different when both are unmistakably Gin? There are several answers.

The base alcohol provides the foundation. Its purity and character influence how the botanicals are expressed.

The botanicals determine the aromatic vocabulary of the spirit. Their variety, provenance and condition can all matter.

Maceration affects what is extracted before distillation.

Distillation determines how those extracted compounds are separated, concentrated and carried into the spirit.

Botanical treatment matters because different ways of presenting botanicals to the distillation process create different possibilities for the distiller.

Blending becomes particularly important when separate distillates are produced. Individual elements can be assessed and combined to create the desired balance.

Dilution and resting can also influence the finished character as the spirit moves towards its final strength and settles into its final form.

None of these decisions exists in isolation. They form a chain. And it is that chain, rather than simply the botanical list on the label, that creates the Gin in the glass.

10. From recipe to composition

This is perhaps the most useful way to think about Gin. A recipe specifies the ingredients. A method determines how those ingredients are transformed. A composition determines how their individual characteristics ultimately work together. That is why two distillers can start with similar ingredients and produce markedly different spirits. It is also why the number of botanicals tells us little about quality. More botanicals do not necessarily mean greater complexity. More expensive botanicals do not necessarily mean a better Gin. And a more elaborate production method does not necessarily produce a more enjoyable one. What matters is what those choices achieve. Does the Gin have balance? Does it have clarity and character? Is there harmony between its aromatic elements? Does it have the texture and length the distiller intended? And, ultimately, does it give the drinker pleasure? Those are more meaningful questions than the length of a botanical list or the price on the shelf.

11. Where does the Bristol Method fit?

The Bristol Method is an approach to Gin-making in which botanicals are individually distilled rather than treated as a single botanical charge. Its modern revival is rooted in Bristol's history of Gin production. Smeaton's discovered a handwritten Gin recipe dating from the 1870s in Bristol Archives, on Smeaton Road. The recipe describes fresh botanicals being individually distilled according to their season. Smeaton's uses that historical recipe as the foundation for its modern interpretation of the Bristol Method. The significance of the method is not simply the use of unusual botanicals, nor the number of ingredients involved. It lies in the possibility of treating each botanical according to its individual character and subsequently bringing those separate distillates together. In that sense, the method turns the botanical recipe into something closer to a composition. Whether that produces a better Gin is ultimately answered not by the name of the method, but by the spirit it produces.

12. Why this matters when choosing a Gin

Once you understand how Gin is made, the information on a bottle begins to look rather different. A long botanical list may be intriguing, but it tells only part of the story. A premium price may reflect greater investment, but price alone cannot establish quality. An unusual technique may be interesting, but novelty is not the same as excellence. Even awards are evidence rather than proof. They tell us that a spirit performed well in a particular competition, under particular judging conditions. They cannot tell us whether it will be the Gin that you most enjoy drinking. A more useful set of questions is: What is the Gin trying to achieve? What botanicals are being used, and why? How are they being treated? What does the production method allow the distiller to control? Does the finished spirit have balance, clarity and character? And, ultimately: Do I enjoy it? Learning how Gin is made does not tell you which Gin to buy. It gives you a better basis on which to decide.

13. A note on Gin legislation

The legal definitions of Gin provide a useful framework for understanding the category, but there is a small complication for readers in the UK. Great Britain and Northern Ireland currently operate under different regulatory frameworks for spirit drinks. In Great Britain, the relevant category definitions are based on retained UK legislation; in Northern Ireland, the EU Regulation on spirit drinks continues to apply. UK Government guidance confirms the distinction. The definitions relevant to Gin remain closely aligned, including the 37.5% minimum alcoholic strength and the distinctions between Gin, Distilled Gin and London Gin. For the consumer, however, the principle is straightforward. Legislation tells us what a Gin must be. It does not tell us which Gin we should prefer. That remains a matter of production, judgement and taste.

14. The Gin-making journey continues

We now know what Gin is. Juniper gives it its identity. Botanicals provide the vocabulary. And the way those botanicals are treated gives the distiller an extraordinary range of ways to shape the finished spirit. We have also seen that individual botanical distillation offers a different set of possibilities from treating botanicals together.

The next question is therefore a natural one: How do the principal Gin-making methods differ, and what difference might those choices make in the glass?

That is where the Spirits Academy continues: How Do Gin-Making Methods Differ?