Best British gins
From using native botanicals to being inspired by local history, explore the vibrant British gins that celebrate a sense of place
Explore our favourite British gins, then read our round ups of Scottish gins, Welsh gins and international gins. For a sunny boost to your G&T, check out our round up of citrus gins.
The gin boom in recent years has seen gin distilleries spring up the length and breadth of the British Isles, and it's likely that wherever you go in the UK you'll discover a locally made gin there, often using botanicals and ingredients from the surrounding area, whether that's wheat grown on the Salisbury plains, Yorkshire gooseberries or foraged sea vegetables in Suffolk. Here's a taste of some of the best gins that make the most of where they come from.
Best British gins to buy 2022
Bullards Coastal Gin, £40, bullardsspirits.co.uk
Inspired by the Norfolk coastline, this is the gin equivalent to a fresh sea breeze, with a subtle salty, savoury profile and complex notes of sea vegetables, citrus and fennel. We were also impressed with their eco-friendly refill service, which offers 700ml pouches of gin to top bottles back up (and you can post the pouch back to Bullards free of charge for recycling).
Flavour profile: herbaceous
Botanicals: juniper, sea purslane, marsh samphire, sea aster, Douglas fir
Perfect pairing: Try in a dirty martini, with a couple of raw oysters alongside.
Cambridge Distillery Three Seasons Gin, £90/70cl, cambridgedistillery.co.uk
We’ve come to expect great things from the Cambridge Distillery and their latest release doesn’t disappoint. Designed to evoke the changing seasons of an English garden, this is a botanical powerhouse of a gin. Featuring lemon verbena, blackcurrant leaf and rose, it’s fresh yet richly floral, with herbaceous citrus notes, hints of dark fruits and a complex, evocative finish. Yes, it’s priced on the steep side, but with a beautiful bottle it would make a special gift for a gin lover. The more budget conscious should try their excellent Cambridge Dry Gin, at £39.99.
Flavour profile: floral and citrus
Botanicals: Lemon verbena, rose, blackcurrant leaf
Perfect pairing: we think this richly complex gin would shine in a dry martini.
Slingsby Gooseberry Gin, Yorkshire, £36.95/70cl, Master of Malt
Slingsby’s rhubarb gin was a hit at olive HQ and now the Yorkshire distillery has released another tart and zesty winner. Here, tangily fruity gooseberries – sourced in Yorkshire – marry perfectly with the citrussy notes of the base gin.
Flavour profile: citrus
Botanicals: severn sea rosemary, silver posie thyme, green and jasmine tea, citrus thyme, garden thyme, rhubarb, sage, lovage, chervil, nettle, sweet cicely, rose hip, angelica, cassia, orris root, coriander, liquorice, grapefruit and juniper
Perfect pairing: the gin’s creamy mouthfeel means it would be lovely sipped neat with ice, or try topping up with some sparkling white wine for a spring-like spritz.
Warner's London Dry Gin, £28.25/70cl, The Whisky Exchange
A rich and full-bodied London dry gin made using lemon verbena, lavender and angelica root grown on the distillery's own farm, as well as discarded lemon peel from a local fruit factory. It's vibrant with bold juniper and zesty flavours, with a subtly spicy edge.
Flavour profile: Juniper and citrus
Botanicals: Lemon verbena, angelica root, lavender, lemon peel, coriander, elderflower, cinnamon, almond, nutmeg, juniper
Perfect pairing: tonic and a wedge of orange
Biggar Gin, £36/70cl, biggargin.com
This award-winning gin, made in batches of just 140 bottles at a time, uses botanicals local to the Scottish town of Biggar, where it’s made. As to be expected from a London dry gin it’s got plenty of juniper character, as well as vibrant orange notes, subtle herbaceousness and spice, and a restrained sweetness. It’s also super smooth to drink, with a lingering finish.
Botanicals: Rowan berry, rosehip, nettle, pink peppercorns, coriander seed, cardamom pods, lavender, cassia bark, orris root
Perfect pairing: tonic and a few pink peppercorns.
Ramsbury Gin, Wiltshire, £35/70cl
This single-estate gin is made in Wiltshire by a distillery whose ethos is very much grain to glass – the gin’s base spirit is distilled onsite using wheat grown on the Ramsbury estate (and chalk-filtered water from their own aquifer). A lovely, balanced London dry gin with heady citrus and floral aromas on the nose and a smooth, fruity finish.
Flavour profile: citrus
Botanicals: juniper (picked nearby on Salisbury plain) and homegrown quince
Perfect pairing: tonic and a twist of orange peel.
Fishers Gin, Suffolk, £40/70cl, fishersgin.com
This unusual gin features a host of rare botanicals foraged on the Suffolk coast. Herbaceous and subtly saline on the nose (we were reminded of sea vegetables), it’s slightly sweeter to taste, with aromatic cardamom notes.
Flavour profile: herbaceous
Botanicals: spignel, rock samphire, wood avens and bog myrtle
Perfect pairing: try it in a dirty martini.
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