Gin is one of the most familiar and common types of liquor. Its clearness both in colour and taste makes it a versatile drink, perfect for use in different cocktails and highballs so that other ingredients in the mix can stand out.
Most popularly, gin is the main character of the classic martini, otherwise known as James Bond’s favourite drink. Yes, gin may be a pretty straightforward, no-nonsense drink. But did you know that there are actually many different types of gin?
Adjustments in the ingredients used and in different points of the distillation process result in a variety of different gins. There’s more to this spirit than just the infamous London dry kind you find on the shelves! So what are the most common types of gin?
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1. London dry gin
This one is perhaps the most popular type of gin because it was the first one to be available to the worldwide market. It originated from England, but the London dry gin isn’t region-specific. Therefore, gin distilleries around the world produce the London dry gin today.
This particular type of gin is characterised by its intense juniper flavour. It doesn’t use any added artificial flavourings, and contains only botanicals plus a citrusy kick in the back.
London dry gin available at minuman.com and the minuman.com superstore:
- Gordon’s London dry gin
- Sipsmith London Dry Gin
- Bombay London Dry Gin
2. Old Tom gin
The sweetest of the gin types, the Old Tom gin surfaced around the 18th century in residential homes. Its nickname was the “bathtub gin” because of its homely method of production.
This type of gin wasn’t distilled properly, and therefore it needed added ingredients to improve the poor flavour and quality of the drink. To do this, home distillers used licorice, which added to the sweetness of the gin.
Although Old Tom gins are professionally distilled today, distillers would still add in licorice to the process, in order to preserve the trademark Old Tom gin taste.
Old Tom gin available at minuman.com and the minuman.com superstore:
3. Plymouth gin
Here’s another type of gin that hails from England. Though coming from the same country, Plymouth gin differs from the London dry gin because it can only be distilled in the port city of Plymouth. You won’t find Plymouth gin producers or distilleries anywhere else.
Compared to the London dry gin, Plymouth gin is drier. Its ingredients include seven very distinct botanicals that sets it apart from other gin types, namely: juniper, coriander seeds, dried orange peels, cardamom, Angelica root, and orris root.
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4. Japanese gin
All the way across the oceans from England, the Japanese also worked on developing their own clear liquor.
Despite the country’s first introduction to gin being during the Edo Period between1603 - 1867, it wasn’t until recently that gin began to be consumed in Japan. Its existence in the country was always related to the craft gin space.
The Kyoto Distillery launched a craft gin in 2016, made unique because it replaced the commonly used junipers with local Japanese botanicals called Ki No Bi. This lead to the launching of Roku Gin in 2017.
Different from its western counterparts, Japanese gin boasts uniquely native Japanese flavors, using botanicals like sakura, sansh, hinoki, and gyokuro.
Japanese gin available at minuman.com and the minuman.com superstore:
