What Are The Best Violet Gins (10 Best Violet Gins To Try)
Flavored and colored gins have been all the craze for the last couple of years. Their popularity has been rising steadily and so the popularity of violet gins has been increasing a lot as well.
Because more and more people are looking to try out these violet gins, it’s good to know which ones are worth checking out. In this article, we’ll discuss our top picks of the best violet gins out there right now.
What Is A Violet Gin
To find out which violet gin would be the best for you to try out, it’s important to know what violet gin is exactly.
A violet gin is almost always a brand’s own standard gin but with added violets to the last distillation step. The base recipe is slightly altered so the flavor pallet balances well with the floral flavors from violet. The base gin gets a bit more of a floral taste and becomes relatively sweet.
There are of course still a ton of differences between different violet gins. We’ll quickly explain how these differences are made before we list 10 of the best violet gins.
Gin distillers have a vast variety of different botanicals to choose from when creating a gin. This results in a ton of different and unique gins ranging from classic London dry gins to more special kinds of gin like blood orange gins and violet gins.
Gin starts out as a neutral grain spirit similar to vodka. After this first distillation, a combination of different botanicals is infused with the clear spirit to create a unique taste pallet. Gin distillers can choose from pretty much any herb, spice, flower, root, etc. they want to create their own distinctive gin.
The only thing they have to keep in mind is that the predominant flavor in a gin has to come from the juniper berry (if you want to know why that is, we explain that in this article).
Aside from that, gin distillers are free to add anything they’d like. If you’re interested in an explanation of the most commonly used botanicals, we’ve written a whole article about that right here.
Due to the fact that there are so many different botanicals to choose from, a new craze arose in the gin market over the past few years. The popularity of fruity and colorful gins like pink gin and blood orange gin has increased a ton recently.
We’ve got an article about the best pink gins right here and an article about the best blood orange gins here.
Aside from pink and blood orange gins, a new kind of gin called violet gin has been popping up more and more at different brands over the past few years.
As we mentioned above, this type of gin is infused with flowers from the violet family. Infusion with violet flowers creates a very distinguishable scent and flavor and often this infusion also leads to the violet hue that violet gins have.
Most of the time the parma violet is used in infusion with gins. The parma violet belongs to the exotic branch of the violet family. Most of these parma violets grow lavender flowers which have a striking fragrance.
Due to the strong and remarkable scent and flavor lavender has, it is used a ton in gin, but also in fragrances.
What Does A Violet Gin Taste Like
Even though all violet gins contain the violet flower, there’s a ton of variety in taste pallets between violet gins from different brands.
This variety is mainly due to the fact that gin distillers all have a different base gin to create their violet gin with. Some gins are for instance more juniper-forward than others and will therefore taste more piney.
Other gins might make use of more unique botanicals like ginger for example which will create a different flavor pallet compared to a more standard gin.
Another difference in flavors between violet gins could come from the different kinds of violets used. As we’ve said before, most violet gins use parma violet, but not all of them do.
The parma violet is so popular due to the well-known British sweets from Swizzels Matlow called Parma Violets. Gins that use the parma violet often try to resemble the taste of these popular British sweets as closely as possible.
Generally speaking, violet gins have a strong and noticeable violet scent and flavor. On the nose these drinks are quite floral and more often than not, they also taste like flowers.
Violet gins are a lot less juniper-forward than standard gins and are also without a doubt a lot sweeter than a more basic gin like a London dry gin.
For some people, more experienced gin drinkers mainly, this means that they won’t like the drinking experience of a violet gin, because they enjoy the bitterness and the juniper-forward taste that gins normally have to offer.
For others, however, this added sweetness and less bitterness may mean that they might actually like a gin for the first time.
Below we list our favorite violet gins on the market right now, in no particular order.
J.J. Whitley Violet Gin
The first gin on the list is the violet gin from J.J. Whitley. J.J. Whitley is a brand that is well-known for making flavored gins and vodkas. The Whitley family has been distilling these spirits since 1762, so they’re bound to have a ton of experience.
The Whitley family used to patrol through their gardens while looking for the best and newest flavors to use in their spirits.
Throughout the years they created numerous flavored spirits like watermelon & lime gin, mango & papaya gin, pink cherry gin, and their violet gin (along with a few flavored vodkas).
When violet gins became a thing, J.J. Whitley was quick to follow the trend and make their own version of the drink. And with their vast experience in making flavored gins, they were able to create a drink that is pretty well received by the public.
This gin uses a blend of eight botanicals a few of which are, juniper berries, angelica root, coriander, licorice, and of course violet. This combination creates a scent that is smooth and quite floral.
At first, you taste delicate and sweet violet flavors followed by the piney taste of the juniper berries.
The taste of violet is well balanced with the taste of juniper berries which a gin is supposed to taste like. It’s not too sweet, but sweet enough to make a nice summery variation to a gin and tonic.
Boë Violet Gin
The brand Boë is named after Franz de la Boë, who to some stories is believed to be the inventor of the spirit we call gin. Boë Gin takes pride in the quality of gin and in its ability to be distinctive by bringing new flavors to gin.
Boë Violet Gin is based on their award-winning Boë Superior Gin recipe, which is known for its earthy and floral flavor notes. A few of the botanicals used in their gin are cassia bark, rose petals, orange, ginger, licorice, and almonds.
The addition of violet to this gin makes for an even more vibrant floral scent and taste. There are also hints of apple and lavender notes on the taste pallet.
This gin is really sweet and is therefore amazing for drinking neat. You could also create a sweet ‘Pamplemousse spritz’ with this gin if it’s mixed with Aperol and pink grapefruit soda garnished with some grapefruit.
If you’re not extremely into sweet drinks then mixing it with a neutral tonic is also a great option while the floral violet notes will still be very much present.
Zymurgorium Sweet Violet Gin Liqueur
The name Zymurgorium comes from the words Zymurgy and Emporium. Zymurgy is the scientific study of brewing and an emporium is a shop that sells items. Zymurgorium stands for the sale of brews and distilled drinks.
Zymurgorium prides itself on experimenting with flavors and striving for great new tastes in all sorts of drinks and food products. These products range from cheeses to syrups, to crafty beers and gins.
As the name may suggest, this is a relatively sweet version of a violet gin. First of all, it’s a gin liqueur which means that the Alcohol by Volume (ABV) of the gin is allowed to be lower than 37.5%. This drink has an ABV of 20%.
This means that the strong alcohol taste will be a lot lower than some other violet gins. This combined with the sweet violets that have been added to this gin makes for a strong sweetness.
This drink is really sweet on its own does mean that a lot of people will probably like it when it’s drunk neat. The bitter taste a gin normally offers will be toned down quite a bit.
Aside from drinking it neat, you could make an amazing aviator cocktail out of the Zymurgorium Sweet Violet Gin. Just add some Manchester gin, Kirsch liqueur, some ice, and garnish with cherries on a cocktail stick
Whitley Neill Parma Violet Gin
Whitley Neill is a sister company to the aforementioned J.J. Whitley. Just like J.J. Whitley, Whitley Neill specializes in flavored gins.
The main difference between the two brands being that J.J. Whitley also produces flavored vodkas, whereas Whitley Neill sticks to distilling gin.
Another thing that makes Whitley Neill stand out from most flavored gins is that all their gins have an ABV of 43%. This means that all of their spirits are still mostly focused on creating a gin instead of just a sweetened drink with a bit of alcohol in it.
This also goes for Whitley Neills Parma Violet Gin. Some people may be a bit disappointed about the fact that this parma violet gin doesn’t exactly resemble the taste of the Parma Violets sweets, but that is not what you should expect from this drink.
In this violet gin, you’ll definitely get the amazing aroma of violet flowers. It contains sweet notes of violet and orange, but this is perfectly balanced with strong juniper notes and other more subtle botanicals like coriander and licorice.
It’s amazing to drink this gin neat due to the very present classic gin taste, but this drink will also work great in a spritz if it’s mixed with prosecco.
Another fantastic option would be to mix this gin with apple juice, freshly squeezed lime juice, and elderflower cordial garnished with mint leaves and cucumber to create a twist on an English Garden cocktail.
McQueen & The Violet Fog Gin
Aside from creating great popular (flavored) gins, McQueen aspires to bring as many true innovations to as many gin lovers as possible. McQueen started out in the gin scene with 4 world-first flavors.
Since then they have expanded to 15 different gins ranging from blood orange & cranberry gin to chocolate mint gin to coconut and lime gin.
The base gin for McQueen’s Violet Gin is their super premium dry gin. On the nose, this gin is strongly juniper led with a forestry aroma. After the juniper taste, there’s a rich vanilla sweetness with a light spice followed by crispy lime notes.
Most of these flavors are found back in their violet gin. On the nose, this gin still has strong scents of juniper, but these scents are now accompanied by a floral violet aroma.
It still contains strong juniper notes and it tastes quite citrusy with some hints of violet.
The perfect serve for this gin would be to add tonic water and ice and garnish with a violet flower. This gin would also work amazing in a spritz if paired with prosecco.
Artful Pour Violet Gin
The Artful Pour is a more expensive premium gin brand with a lot of great quality gins. They distill gins like English rhubarb pink grapefruit to passion fruit which are all based on their Yorkshire dry gin.
Their base gin, the Yorkshire dry gin, contains hints of sweet orange and floral lavender alongside a spicy, piney juniper. These notes translate very well to their violet gin.
Even though the violet gin is a bit sweeter due to the added violets combined with orange and lavender, you still get that great gin-specific piney juniper taste with this gin.
For those who’d like to create a fancy cocktail, try the Violet Bramble. This cocktail is made by pouring the violet gin over crushed ice and adding a bit of fresh lemon juice and Maraschino liqueur to it.
Top this off with tonic water and garnish with some fresh raspberries.
If you’re looking for a more simple cocktail to really enjoy the gin itself, however, this gin would be perfect in a simple gin and tonic garnished with lemon and a sprig of rosemary.
Solway Violet Gin
Solway Spirits is a small-batch craft distillery located in South West Scotland. They use British suppliers for great quality ingredients. This brand may not be extremely well-known, but their gins are amazing.
The blend of botanicals used for their gins consists of juniper, coriander, orris root, angelica, orange peel, licorice, and a few others. They infuse their Classic Gin with violets to try to resemble the Parma Violets sweets as closely as possible.
Solway succeeded in their goal to recreate the taste of Parma Violets sweets. This gin has a very deep aroma of sweet violets. The taste is also quite sweet and floral but doesn’t overpower the spicy and piney juniper berries.
The sweetness of the violets is best enjoyed mixed with tonic water of your own choice. Garnished with a grapefruit slice, this will create an easy-to-drink sweet cocktail while you can still appreciate the juniper notes of a good gin.
TW Kempton Parma Violet Gin
TW Kempton is a relatively cheap alcohol brand that is only sold at some places. But don’t get fooled by this. Their drinks are actually quite good, especially for these prices!
TW Kempton Parma Violet Gin is actually a gin liqueur but it is definitely not as sweet as you may expect a liqueur to be. It’s true, this drink is sweeter than most of the other gins on this list, but the juniper notes are actually still very much present in this drink.
On the nose, this drink has lots of floral violet notes. The taste is floral as well with a touch of vanilla. This gin finishes with subtle peppery juniper notes.
On its own, the sweetness of the violets might be a little overpowering, but once it’s combined with some tonic water, this drink will make a great summery cocktail.
Staffordshire Black Violet Gin
Staffordshire started out crafting their Staffordshire Original gin in a little mining village for two years. Since then they have relocated and expanded their distillery.
Staffordshire now distills 2 flavored gins and 3 gin liqueurs as well. Their Original gin is infused with black pepper, lemon, green cardamom, and bay leaves among other botanicals.
This makes for a spicy and citrusy gin which really translates well to the Black Violet gin they make.
The extra ingredients in Staffordshire’s Black Violet gin are black cardamom and violets. The combination of these botanicals creates a sweet, but also a lot more spicy gin due to the black cardamom and black pepper.
This gin should be served traditionally in a gin and tonic. The tonic tones down the heat of the peppery flavors this gin brings and makes for an amazing but stronger version of a gin and tonic compared to others on this list.
But if you’re looking to experiment a bit more with this gin, you should definitely try a negroni!
Two Birds Parma Violet Gin
Even though Two Birds is a fairly young brand, it only started in 2012, they have made a ton of different kinds of spirits like gin, vodka, rum, and absinthe.
Two Birds tries to create flavors to surprise spirit lovers in search of their next craft spirit.
Their base gin for the Parma Violet gin is a multi-award-winning London Dry gin. This gin is an amazing spirit. It’s really smooth and crisp with great notes of juniper berries.
The Parma Violet version of their gin is quite floral on the nose. There’s a light taste of Parma Violets sweets with hints of rose petals and lemon peel. The juniper-forward flavor is still very present in this gin.
It’s best to serve this gin over ice and frozen blueberries. Add a bit of a floral, preferably hibiscus, tonic to this, and garnish with a few dried rose petals for a gorgeous floral cocktail.
Final Thoughts
All in all, violet gins make for a unique and exciting drinking experience. Whether you’re looking for a sweet and spicy gin, a dry and citrusy gin, or a fruity and floral gin, there’s a violet gin out there to satisfy your taste buds.
With so many delicious options on the market, you’re sure to find a violet gin that you love.
