The best British gins - tried and tested

Copas, Small Batch Rosemary Gin

Named the Gold winner in the Great British Food Awards 2023, gin category judge Adam Handling, chef-owner of Michelin-starred Frog, enjoyed its “well-rounded blend of botanicals that shows through the finishing product”. High praise indeed.

The botanicals Adam cites are found on and around Copas’ turkey farm in Cookham, Berkshire. Other botanicals and ingredients featured in the gin are juniper, coriander, angelica, grapefruit, lemon, liquorice and grains of paradise. As the Copas team mainly specialise in farming turkeys, they collaborated with Griffiths Brothers in Penn to create this delicious gin.

East London Liquor Co, Kew Gin

For the producers of this gin, East London Liquor Co., this product is all about giving back to the environment which lends the beverage its unique flavours. Created in collaboration with Kew Gardens, the company works with Kew’s Head Botanist, who hand-harvests Douglas fir and lavender for distillation each month, with 10% of all sales going back to supporting Kew and its 260 years of science and 16,000 species of plants.

As well as Douglas fir and lavender, it also features orange peel, liquorice root, angelica root and fennel seed, which culminates in an exquisitely well-balanced drink that works brilliantly with tonic, a big cube of ice and a slice of lemon.

Orkney Gin Company, Aatta

This London dry gin has a legion of fans and accolades - a Great British Food Awards 2023 Gold winner badge among them - with admirers typically noting its complex, fresh flavours.

“It’s rich and smooth and very well balanced,” said Great British Food Awards judge Adam Handling. “It’s juniper-heavy, so would make a nice, crisp, dry martini or would be perfect in just a classic gin and tonic.”

Our tasting panel not only loved its citrusy notes and earthy yet vanilla-like finish but also its story. Inspired by the Orkney Islands’ local history and folklore, Aatta means “eight” in Old Norse, a language once spoken on the islands. In homage, the gin is distilled eight times with eight different botanicals.

The Botanist, Islay Dry Gin

Designed to reflect the ingredients and environment of the small, remote, Scottish island of Islay, Islay Dry Gin includes 22 hand-foraged local botanicals alongside nine berries, barks, seeds and peels.

​The company also sells a nice gift pack, which is perfect as the gin’s versatile, crowd-pleasing character means it can appeal to expert gin drinkers and amateur tasters alike.

Dyfi Distillery, Pollination Gin

Well-sourced ingredients are a prerequisite for producing any great British gin, however, Dyfi Distillery’s use of locally foraged results in a truly world-class tipple. Using local ingredients found in the UNESCO-recognised, World Biosphere Reserve Dyfi in Wales, the rich mixture of botanicals and flora creates a sensory bouquet of pepperiness, flora and citrusy notes.

The flavour is exceptional. Adam Handling, judge of the Great British Food Awards 2023, stated: “Dyfi Distillery Pollination has a wonderful aroma for a classic and versatile gin. It definitely showcases an incredible combination of botanicals.”

Isle of Harris Distillery Gin

Don’t let the fact that this gin is filed under the ‘bottle design’ category make you think that it’s all style over substance: its flavour profile is sensational. One big reason behind its taste sensation is that it features sugar kelp, which is a key local ingredient. Sustainably gathered by hand from local sea lochs, the seaweed complements the carefully chosen other ingredients, including juniper, coriander seeds, cubebs, cassia bark, angelica root, bitter orange peel and liquorice root.

Back to the bottle. Its mottled glass effect looks ultra smart, with its wooden top adding to its elegant class. It’s one that you should have in eyeshot on your kitchen shelf or spirits cupboard.

Fishers, Original Gin

​If you’re a fan of the juniper-forward London Dry method, look no further than this exemplary example of the style. Distilled by Fishers, based on the beach in Aldeburgh, Suffolk, the company’s Distiller forages wild herbs and coastal botanicals to make it.

The use of local ingredients lends it an aromatic and herbaceous flavour, with a creamy and smooth finish. It’s amazing served as a gin and tonic while also suiting a multitude of cocktails: we used it in a martini during our testing and the results were sensational.

Warner's, Rhubarb Gin

Pink gins have sky-rocketed in popularity over the last few years, but if we’re being brutally honest, they can often divide opinion due to lots of poorer quality gins being excessively sweet. This is far from the case with this wonderfully balanced rhubarb gin.

Created from real rhubarb juice - a third of every bottle is filled with the stuff! - it packs a strong burst of authentic flavour. A pinch of black pepper and cardamom flavours perfectly balances out the flavour-forwardness of the rhubarb. Brilliant served with a tonic or even a ginger beer.

Salcombe Gin, Start Point

​The beauty of gin is that due to the multitude of botanicals that it can feature, every creation has a different flavour profile. Some people like juniper-heavy gin while others crave peppery, earthy flavours. If, however, your crave citrus, then Salcombe Gin’s Start Point is the gin for you.

Distilled to the London dry method, this award-winning gin has a refreshing, citrus-led flavour, with notes of fresh, red grapefruit backed by earthy pine. The gin itself is inspired by the trading routes of the Salcombe Fruit Schooners, featuring the citrus fruits and spices the vessels carried back to England’s ports.

Naturally, it suits being served with a slice of lemon or grapefruit and plenty of ice.

Tarquin's, Cornish Dry Gin

​If you’re looking for a fresh and crisp gin, then Tarquin’s is your go-to option. The cool, ocean-like, blue bottle colour even adds to its refreshing image.

Distilled using 12 different botanicals - many of which are from the Cornish coast where the distillery is based - its crisp, piney notes balance with juniper flavours, a dash of citrus and a great floral finish.

Perfect served with a good quality tonic water, ice, sprig of thyme and even some red grapefruit.

Shed One, YiaYia Gin

The rich, savoury, earthy, bosky notes of a Cretan garden are revealed in this striking, truly unique gin. A collaboration between distillery Shed One and 2019 Masterchef winner and sommelier Irini Tzortzoglou, the gin tips a hat to Irini’s Greek heritage, the name, YiaYia, meaning ‘grandmother’ in her native tongue.

Made entirely by a female-led team, YiaYia is incredibly distinctive, opening out with vine, fig, olive and lemon leaf, distilled with mushroom, seaweed, rose pelargonium, oregano and juniper. Adam Handling gave it his seal of approval in 2024, bestowing YiaYia with a Gold in the Great British Food Awards. He said, “Nose: floral, delicate, citrus, sweet, cucumber; Palate: delicate, fragrant, soft peppery note, floral clean, umami and savoury.
“Excellent gin with elegance and complexity, foraged and sourced all in the UK (except the juniper) with an innovative concept of Mediterranean flavours. A super artisanal and female-led project.

The Dundee Gin Co, Dundee Dry Gin

Adam Handling gave this truly luscious, aromatic gin a Gold in the 2024 Great British Food Awards.

The brand proudly celebrates its Dundee heritage, embracing using locally foraged and picked ingredients alongside products made in and around the city – including MacKays Dundee Orange Marmalade in one make. Storytelling, they say, is key.

Tradition and storytelling are given a refreshing modern twist in the team’s dry gin, which bursts with evocative taste thanks to a profusion of botanicals, all sourced from the city’s botanical gardens. Ylang Ylang, strawberry guava, cardamom and lemongrass marry with juniper in what is a very special bottle indeed. Stunning alone over ice, or perfection in a cocktail, including a Singapore Sling, where its fruity nature enhances every sip.

Billington’s of Lenzie, Lenzie Gin

The Billington family, owners of award-winning shop Billington’s of Lenzie, are absolute gin fanatics, operating a gin club alongside making their own gin to celebrate their love of the spirit.

A great deal of time and care went into pinning down the botanicals which would make it into the micro distillery. The Billingtons took advice and guidance from local experts to discover all the wild and wonderful ingredients on their doorstep including, incredibly, cranberries and bilberries.

The floral, fruity, juicy nature of these come through on the nose and taste of this lovely London Dry gin, with hints of zest, and a good dose of juniper. A Silver winner in the Great British Food Awards 2024, as judged by Adam Handling.

Gun Dog Gin, Damson Liqueur 

Olly Smith gave this complex, fruity damson gin liqueur a Gold in the 2024 Great British Food Awards. As well as being impressed by the texture and taste of the tipple, he was delighted by the commitment to quality by the drink’s makers. 

Each of Gun Dog Gin’s eight flavours is made in Herefordshire, bottling the essence of the British countryside, with great care going into sourcing fruit, and with nothing artificial, and no preservatives added. It’s all about taking the time to steep each batch slowly, allowing the natural goodness and magic to shine through.

The Damson Liqueur is Gun Dog’s bestseller. It has a rich, striking colour and clings lusciously to the glass, with just the right balance of sweet sharpness, alongside a hint of almond, naturally occurring from the stones of the damsons. It’s wonderful for sipping, drizzling over desserts, or even in aperitifs, dashed into a glass of chilled fizz.

Ludlow Distillery, Sloe Gin

Ludlow, in the Welsh Marches, that glorious verdant borderland between Wales and England, is well noted on the British culinary calendar for hosting more than its fair share of incredible restaurants, cafes, pubs and producers of fine food and drink.

Silver winner in the 2024 Great British Food Awards, as judged by Olly Smith,Ludlow Distillery has been impressing gin aficionados since launching in 2017. The distillery uses traditional methods, and locally gathered sloes to produce its sharp, sweet, heady Sloe Gin, with just a touch of spice for added intrigue. Superb as a sipper over ice, stirred into a cocktail or sparkling wine, or even with a splash of sparkling water, which opens it out, showcasing its flavour profile deliciously.