The Best English Gins to Try in 2023

THE BEST ENGLISH GINS

TO TRY IN 2023

We’ve compiled a few of the best English Gins to try in 2023. Here is what we’ve come up with.

| BY KEVIN PILLEY

TRUFFLE GIN

A walk through the meadows around Cambridge inspired William and Lucy Lowe to create gins that capture the taste of the English Seasons. From Three Seasons Gin, they moved on to Truffle Gin made with Alba truffles from Piedmont, Italy, and Anty Gin made from sixty-two red wood ants. Nettles, avens, and a lot of British and Nordic know-how.

TERLINGHAM

The family-run coastal vineyard has launched Terlingham Bacchus Dry Gin made with English wine produced from its naturally farmed land, grapes grown from the same chalk seam as the Champagne region, and botanicals from the family home in Folkestone The gin claimed a Gold medal at The Spirits Business Spring Tasting Competition 2022. The business on the North Downs is run by three sisters, Jackie, Caroline, and Ashleigh, alongside their parents, Lorna and Graham.

GOODWOOD ESTATE LEVIN DOWN

Sussex’s historic 11000-acre stately home and sporting estate’s new gin uses English wild juniper and aromatic gorse flower from the local nature reserve. Levin Down, derived from ‘Leave-Alone-Hill’, is an ancient hill located north of Goodwood Racecourse and Goodwood House. The gin won London Dry Gold and Contemporary Gold at The Gin Masters 2022 blind tasting from over 500 entries. The Duke of Richmond and Gordon have been closely involved in the creation of the gin which reflects the estate’s organic farming heritage and gives a proud sense of terroir. Goodwood Home Farm is one of the largest lowland organic farms in Europe. www.Goodwood.com/goodwood-gin

BURGH ISLAND

The iconic Art Deco hotel off Devon’s coastline, working with the North Point Distillery. Has just brought out this gin blended with 17 different botanicals including the island’s Rosa Rugosa and Gorse stemming from Burgh Island.

CHELSEA PENSIONERS GIN

Made in collaboration with the Royal Chelsea Hospital which was founded by King Charles 11 in 1682. A Pensioner, or In-Pensioner, is a resident of the retirement home and nursing home for former members of the British Army, both male, and female (since 2009).

GIN WALA GIN

Another London gin is Gin Wala Gin which is made by the owner of an Indian restaurant in Pinner, North London, and uses ingredients from his mother’s chai tea recipe.

LALELAND ARTISAN, MARMALADE GIN

Run by husband and wife team Geoff and Mary Monkman, this multiple Great Taste award-winning artisan food and drink company make preserves, chutneys, and fruit syrups under the name Cumbrian Delights, a range of soft drinks and cordials as Mawson ’ s Traditional Drinks as well as a range of Gin, Vodka, Rum and Whisky made at the Herdwick Distillery on the outskirts of Kendal in the Lake District.

HENLEY GIN

There are three Henley Gins to choose from, all small-batch, single-shot, artisan sipping gins and each bottle is hand-filled, hand-labeled, hand-numbered, and sealed. Jacob Wilson is one of the youngest distillers in the country. The distillery is based in a restored threshing barn. www.thehenleydistillery.co.uk

CANTIUM

Amongst its botanicals, Cantium hand-crafted boasts cobnuts. It comes in flasks and other receptacles to keep liquids warm are the top item requested by homeless charities. Cantium supports Warming Up The Homeless by donating new and unwanted used flasks. The world’ s first gin in a reusable flask bottle is available in ‘Primo’ a contemporary London Dry gin and ‘Rubesco’ pink gin, enhanced with strawberries and raspberries.

The word Cantium itself is the Roman word for Kent and its logo is inspired by a mosaic tile found at Lullingston Roman Villa, a few miles from Cantium HQ. Many of the Kentish botanicals are locally sourced from in and around Sevenoaks, including lavender from Castle Farm in Eynsford. The founders. Kevin and Katie Andrews started distilling in their garage in West Malling near Folkestone. www. cantiumgin.com

FIRECRACKER GIN

The Lancaster Spirit Company’s North West distillery’s first small batch offering expresses the profiles of seventeen botanicals including three strains of European juniper and entourage elements, including kumquat, lavender, hawthorn, beer hops, and hemp.

Says MD Phil Simpson who also runs the Lancaster Brewery: “Firecracker is an explosive gin, big, stormy, and complex, with bold earthy notes of evergreen, a zing of citrus, exotic spices and freshly sawn timber.” https:// lancasterspirits.co.uk

YORK GIN

York’s most famous celebrity is the iconic “deliciously unsquared”, “Don’t tap it, whack it!”, “Smash it to pieces, love it to bits” Terry’s Orange Chocolate.

The iconic segmented chocolate was first made in York in 1932. Now it is made in Strasbourg. York Gin Chocolate & Orange is made at the city’s only distillery, only two miles from the old chocolate factory.

AGNES ARBER GIN

Named after a botanist and philosopher who in 1948 became the first woman to receive the Gold medal of the Linnean Society, a world-famous institution dedicated to the study of natural history.

SNAPES POINT SLOE GIN

South Devon’s Salcombe Distillery- one of the world’s only ones accessible by boat - is a leader in the hyper-premium gin sector with its Voyager Sries, Start Point, and Rose Sainte Marie. This new small batch, of cask-aged gin, uses local honey, Dartmoor water, damsons, and sloes hand-picked from the nearby coastal footpaths overlooking the Kingsbridge Estuary. The head distiller is Jason Nickels.

WIMBLEDON GARDEN GIN

They have been brewing long before they started playing tennis in Wimbledon. Today’s Wimbledon brewery is on the site of Merton Abbey which brewed its own in the Middle Ages. Derek Prentice is the master brewer, distiller and ginmeister. 