Several of my friends will allow me, and only me, to mix them a G&T. If you’re a drinker, you know what this means. It means I use enough ice and the right (Fever-Tree Refreshingly Light, which contains no artificial sweeteners, is the standard).
It means I pour a good measure of gin, in a glass that is appropriate for the occasion. And I only pour good gin. But which gins are good enough? And at what price? ’s The Gardener French Riviera Gin has just arrived in the UK with a price tag of £55 and it is not an outlier.
Léoube Mediterranean Gin (41.5%, Daylesford Organic, £55) is fragrant and beautiful – a song of olive trees and wild herbs and sea spray – to the wine estate for which it’s named - and it costs the same. There are now lots of gins at around £40 to £50.
Which, if any, actually deliver on that? If you take gin as seriously as I do, you’ll have more than one bottle at home. My ‘house gin’ is Tanqueray Export Strength London Dry Gin (43.1%, widely available, around £22.
50). I get through a lot so try to buy it by the litre, and when it’s on offer. Every so often I allow myself to upgrade the house pour to the beautifully clear-cut and much-loved Sipsmith London Dry Gin (41.
6%, widely available, around £30, but also one that I buy on offer). Sipsmith is brilliant for a dirty martini. I’m not part of the contingent who love Gordon’s London Dry Gin (37.
5%, widely available, around £17.75), but if you are, it could be worth trying Aldi’s.