The 17 Best Gins To Gift
Trying to come up with an idea for someone’s birthday gift, a holiday gift, or just want to surprise someone with an original gift? Why not give them a bottle of gin?
Gin is becoming more and more popular every day for a few years already and for good reason! But what gins would be best to give to someone as a present?
Best Gin for Gifting for Any Occasion
To answer the question in short: there are a ton of different options for gins to gift and they all really depend on the situation.
In the list below we mention 17 of the best presents, in our opinion, to give to any gin-lover or gin-newcomer.
1. Four Pillars Rare Dry Gin
We start this list off with a bit more standard, but superb tasting gin. Four Pillars Rare Dry Gin is an amazing gin, but the juniper notes are a bit less present compared to other dry gins, which makes it great for newcomers to gin.
Four Pillars is quite a new gin brand, having only been founded in 2013. already in 2019 they won the world’s leading gin brand at IWSC London and won again in 2020, proving that they distill an amazing gin.
Their Rare Dry gin is their original (and also their favorite) gin. It’s distilled using a variety of different botanicals from all over the world including pepper berry and lemon myrtle foraged locally in Australia, as well as more exotic botanicals like cinnamon and coriander, combined with whole Mediterranean oranges.
This gin is a bit spicy but with great citrusy notes coming from the whole oranges. On top of that this gin is a bit less juniper-forward, so the piney notes are less present which makes it a great gift for someone who is not too big on gins normally.
Four Pillars Rare Dry Gin might tip them over to the bright side.
2. Abelforth’s Bathtub Gin
Although a ‘bathtub gin’ might sound disgusting as it may sound like it was made in a bathtub, it’s actually not made in a bathtub at all. The name bathtub gin just refers to the style of homemade spirit infusion.
During the 1920s creating gin in batches as big as bathtubs was extremely popular due to the fact that not everyone could distill gin, but this way the batches are small enough that they could go unnoticed by the police.
Abelforth’s was founded in 2011 by three friends who wanted to create delicious drinks that they would enjoy themselves. In doing so they created gin, rum, brandy, and other drinks.
Their Bathtub gin is distilled with botanicals like juniper, coriander, and other fragrant botanicals. After that, it’s infused with six other fresh botanicals to bring the gin to an amazing flavor palate that couldn’t be done with just distilling alone.
The Gin has won an incredible amount of different awards one of which was gold at the World Gin Awards in 2020. It’s sure to say that this is a fantastic gin!
Other than tasting amazing, the bottle is neatly packed using brown paper, string, and wax, which makes the bottle look beautiful on any display in your house/bar.
3. Roku Gin
Roku gin is a gin brand that has gained a lot of popularity in a very short amount of time. This is probably somewhat due to the fact that it is one of the first great gins coming from Japan.
First of all, this gin is bottled in an incredibly pretty-looking bottle which is already a fantastic reason to gift this gin to someone. Secondly, the quality of this gin is amazing. It’s got all the great ingredients and balance to make a fantastic gin.
Besides a few classic gin botanicals like coriander, cinnamon, cardamom, and orange peel, Roku adds six unique Japanese botanicals to their recipe. These six botanicals all represent one of the four seasons which makes it a great drink all year round.
For spring they’ve added Sakura flower and Sakura leaf. To represent summer they added Sencha tea and Gyokuro tea. The botanical to represent autumn is the Sansho pepper and the last botanical, the Yuzu peel, represents winter.
Not only is this gin unique due to the fact that it is a Japanese gin with Japanese botanicals, but it’s also extremely nice in taste and is packed in an amazing bottle. This would make any gin-lover really happy.
4. World Gin Awards Winners Tasting Set
If you’re not a big gin-lover yourself and you don’t really know what gins are good options to gift to someone, it’s a great idea to opt for a tasting set of different gins. The World Gin Awards Winners Tasting Set is a great gift to anyone that loves different great quality gins.
This tasting set contains some of the best gins from the previous year and consists of five different gins.
First, there’s the Bathtub Gin which we discussed at number two of this list (you’ll see a better description there). Next up is the Sky Wave Gin which won the best Contemporary style gin award.
The Marylebone Orange & Geranium gin won the award for best flavored gin of 2020 and is also present in this set. The last two gins are the Lubuski Aged gin which won the World’s Best Matured gin and the Hayman’s Spiced Sloe gin which won the award for Best Sloe gin.
As you may have noticed, there’s a good variety of different kinds of gin in this set, which makes it really cool to try out and see which one you like best.
5. Manchester Gin Winter Edition
Manchester Gin is a brand with a ton of different awards under its belt already. Their gins which range from a signature gin to a navy strength gin to different kinds of flavored gins are all incredible and worthy of a try.
Their Signature gin, one of the most awarded gins in the UK, is what they base all their gins on. It’s made with orange, lemon, licorice, and dandelion among other botanicals which create a ton of nice citrus notes on the nose.
The juniper is present but not overpowering at all. The finish is smooth and creamy with a pleasant sweet licorice taste.
As we’ve said before, their gin variations are based on the Signature gin, which translates well to their Winter Edition gin. This gin has an amazing citrus kick with every sip but finishes more warm and spicy compared to their Signature gin.
This is also exactly what makes this gin great for the winter season.
Manchester’s Winter Edition goes great in a cold cocktail when paired with an aromatic tonic and some ice cubes, but it’s also incredible in a hot variation to this.
Serve this gin with some tonic syrup, garnished with cinnamon and an orange peel and you will stay warm for the entire rest of your evening.
6. Premium Gin Tasting Set
The Premium Gin Tasting Set is another amazing tasting set to gift to any gin enthusiast. Even though not all of these gins are necessarily the award winners like the previously mentioned tasting set, they are certainly not to be overlooked.
This tasting set, just like the other set we mentioned, starts off with the Bathtub Gin. If you hadn’t noticed by now, the bathtub gin is an amazing gin in our opinion and is therefore also a great option to gift to anyone who enjoys gins.
If you’d like a more in-depth description of the Bathtub Gin check out number 2 on this list.
Besides the Bathtub Gin, this set contains No.3 Gin which is a fantastic London dry gin with strong juniper notes on the nose and the palate. This juniper is paired with refreshing citrus notes coming from orange peel and grapefruit peel.
From this more traditional gin, we jump to the next gin which is a gin made in Sweden, the Hernö Old Tom Gin. There aren’t a ton of gin distillers stemming from Sweden, which makes this a great gift. It’s always nice to try out new types of gins and experience different styles.
This Old Tom Gin uses the same botanicals as their London Dry gin, but they use some more meadowsweet, which makes this gin a bit more herbaceous and sweet.
The fourth gin in this tasting set is the Conker Spirit Dorset Dry Gin. This gin is distilled with a lot of Dorset-inspired botanicals, which make it a nice variation to more standard dry gins.
The last gin in this tasting set is the Four Pillars Rare Dry Gin, which we already discussed as number 1 on this list. This gin is just an all around amazing spirit and is really nice to receive as a gift.
7. Comte De Grasse 44N
Comte de Grasse is a luxury gin brand and it’s therefore also one of the more expensive gins on this list. This is a perfect gift for someone who has tried a bunch of different gins but doesn’t like to spend a whole lot of money on a single gin.
Comte de Grasse stems from the Côte d’Azur in France where they combine traditional craftsmanship with the best distillation techniques to create amazing luxury spirits.
Their approach to distilling gin is part science and part art, where they combine the knowledge of scientists with the great taste of gin experts to really set themselves apart from other gins.
The 44N gin is really fresh on the nose with great citrus notes from lemon and grapefruit. The palate is quite floral, herbaceous, bitter, and warm with hints of pepper.
If you do decide to gift this gin to someone, you should recommend them to drink this in a Rosé champagne Martini. This cocktail consists of 44N gin, Laurent Perrier Rosé champagne, Chamberyzette Strawberry vermouth, and Sugar syrup.
Aside from the rosé cocktail, this gin should also be consumed neat at least once, because it lends itself greatly to that. If you’re not sure how to drink gin neat, we’ve got an article about how to right here.
8. Seedlip Non-Alcoholic Spirit
Even though the spirits from Seedlip are not actually gins, they make for an amazing substitute for gin if you need to stay sober for the night. Any gin-lover will appreciate a spirit from Seedlip as a gin substitute on a night when they can’t drink any alcohol.
Seedlip’s story began al the way back in the 17th century when Ben Branson (the owner of Seedlip) family started farming in Lincolnshire with so called ‘seedlips’.
During this time a man named John French wrote a book called The Art of Distillation, which inspired Ben Branson to start distilling himself.
Ben wanted to start distilling and at the same time solve the problem of ‘what to drink when you’re not drinking. He then came up with this amazing recipe for his spirit which already grew out to a range of three different non-alcoholic spirits.
The three spirits are called Spice 94, Grove 42, and Garden 108. All of these drinks pair fantastic with a nice tonic so you really can’t go wrong with any of the bottles as a gift.
9. Warner’s Christmas Cake Gin
Inspired by the recipe for mother’s Christmas cake from the owners of Warner’s Distillery, this gin might be the perfect Christmas present for any gin enthusiast.
Warner’s Distillery is known for the fact that they create different drinks compared to the standard nowadays, which makes them really unique. Their gins are great overall, which is why their Christmas Cake is a must-try for anyone who likes different takes on a classic gin.
This gin is distilled with unique botanicals like real dark chocolate, ginger, and festive spices. This distillate is then perfectly blended with cherry juice, their hand-picked sloe gin macerate & pure treacle.
All in all, this makes for a unique, sweeter kind of gin, which is perfect for those cold, cozy days at home with the family. Warner has been making the Christmas variant for a few years now and it has been a hit every time, so try and get your hands on one of their bottles next Christmas!
10. Tanqueray No. 10
For number ten on this list, we’ve got a fitting gin called the Tanqueray No. 10. Tanqueray distills this gin in their 10th still, which is where it gets its name from.
Tanqueray has been a staple in the gin community for quite some time now and their London Dry gin is considered to be one of the best London Dry gins on the market as of now.
Their No. 10 gin is maybe a little lesser-known, but it is still an incredible gin as is shown by the fact that it is the only gin to be inducted into the San Francisco Spirits Hall of Fame.
Tanqueray No. 10 is a bit more citrus-based and a bit sweeter compared to their London Dry gin. This makes the gin a lot easier to drink for people who aren’t the biggest gin fan.
This doesn’t mean that gin lovers won’t like this gin. On the contrary, actually, this gin will suit pretty much anyone and due to the fact that it is a bit more expensive than other gins, it makes for an amazing present.
The perfect serve with tonic for this gin is with 3 parts of a premium Mediterranean tonic, and one part of Tanqueray No. 10 served over ice. This is then stirred and garnished with a slice of grapefruit.
11. Colonsay Gin
Colonsay Gin from Wild Thyme Spirits has only been around for a few years, but they’ve made quite a name for themselves already. This is probably mostly due to the amount of passion the owners of this brand have for distilling gin.
Around 2016 they discovered gin distilling and they have been obsessed with it ever since, in search of the best gin (and other spirits) they can offer.
Wild Thyme Spirits already has quite a wide variety of different spirits ranging from (different flavored) gin to vodka to liqueur. Their Colonsay Gin has a relatively high ABV of 47% which brings a lot of heat to the gin.
The main botanicals used for this gin are juniper, angelica root, calamus root, coriander licorice, orange peel, and orris.
These botanicals make for a very juniper-forward gin all throughout the nose and palate with hints of sweet rooty notes. Paired with this, the gin brings a subtle citrusy taste and it’s quite warm.
This gin is a bit on the more expensive side, but it’s definitely worth the money. That’s why it makes for a perfect gift for any gin enthusiast that doesn’t like to spend too much on gin.
12. Fever Tree Gin & Tonic Advent Calendar
You can’t go wrong with a great quality gin combined with arguably the best tonic brand on the market right now. Pretty much any gin-lover would agree that a gin & tonic with Fever-Tree is probably one of the most refreshing gin cocktails you could make.
This advent calendar consists of six times 150ml different cans of Fever-Tree tonic water and twelve times 5cl bottles of different kinds of gin. There are six different flavors of Fever-Tree tonic which you can mix with whichever gin you see fit.
With this advent calendar, you are able to combine a ton of different gins with a few different tonics. This is a great and inexpensive way to experiment with other combinations than you’re used to and this is, therefore, an amazing option for a present.
13. That Boutique-y Gin Company 12 Dram Collection
That Boutique-y Gin Company is known for its vast amount of different kinds of flavored gin. Flavored gins haven’t even been around for all that long, but That Boutique-y Gin Company didn’t wait around to experiment with it at all.
In a few years, they’ve managed to create at least 56 different kinds of flavored gins.
Their 12 Dram Collection Tasting Set is therefore an incredible gift to anyone who enjoys gins but is maybe a bit tired of the same London Dry gin they have been drinking the past few years. This tasting set is an advent calendar that offers 12 30mL bottles of different kinds of gin.
We won’t spoil all the different flavors, because it’s supposed to be a surprise, but to name a few in a random order this set contains Cherry Gin, Chocolate Orange Gin, Moonshot Gin, and Cold-Brew Coffee Gin.
As you may have noticed, there’s a ton of variety in this set, so you’re sure to find a few gins that you’ll like.
14. Fallen Angel
To be fair, the Fallen Angel bottles are not meant for everyone. The devil head design of the bottle could be too scary or creepy for some people, but it’s definitely an eye-catcher in any bar or display!
This might just be the perfect addition to the decoration of someone’s home and you could be the one to gift this extraordinary bottle to them.
Fallen Angel makes a few different kinds of spirits like rum, vodka, and of course gin. All of these spirits are bottled in the same devil heads only with different colors ranging from white to black, to red.
Besides the extraordinary-looking bottle, Fallen Angle’s gin is actually really good tasting as well. So not only will it look great next to a collection of other bottles, but it will also be really useful as well to anyone who loves gin.
15. Antique Gin Tasting Set
The Antique Gin Tasting Set contains, as the name may suggest, a variety of different old gins which were distilled between 1970 and 1950. Back in the day in the second half of the 20th century, the way gins were distilled was a bit different compared to nowadays, especially the different botanicals that are/were used.
The first gin in this set is a Gordon’s London Dry Gin from the 1970s. A lot of people have probably tasted Gordon’s London Dry gin at least once before because it’s a really common brand.
It’s not always the most well-received gin brand, but it is always fun to compare Gordon’s gin from nowadays to the gin made about 50 years ago.
The second gin is Gilbey’s Dry Gin which was also bottled in the 1970s. Even though it’s a London Dry Gin, this gin was distilled in Italy. Number three of this set is Booth’s High & Dry Gin was bottled in the 1970s. This gin was once claimed to be the driest gin in the world.
The fourth gin is an extremely old gin, already over 70 years old, that was bottled in the 1950s. This gin, the Bosford Dry London Gin, is actually a relatively rare gin.
Aside from this tasting set, it’s pretty hard to get your hands on a 1950s bottle of this brand. Even if you are able to find a bottle, chances are it’s going to be quite expensive.
The last gin in this set is from quite a popular brand called Bols. Bols is a Dutch gin brand and they have been a staple in gin distilling for a long time already. This gin also dates back all the way from the 1970s.
16. Hepple Gin
Hepple Gin is a very juniper-forward gin that is created in quite an unusual way compared to other gins. The first step where they use a pot still is pretty standard, a lot of distillers use pot stills. Another step they use is a vacuum still.
By using a vacuum still, they are able to use lower temperatures than normal. This results in less damage to the molecules of the botanicals which in turn results in more and better-preserved flavors.
The third step is a CO2 extraction system instead of a hydrodistillation. This is said to result in more aromatic molecules which then leads to a better quality of the botanicals used in this step.
Another uncommon thing about the way Hepple distills its gin is the fact that they use green juniper berries instead of normal juniper berries. Green juniper berries are unripe berries and carry a very different flavor profile compared to ripe juniper berries.
Because of the way this gin is distilled, paired with the unripe juniper berries, this gin is a great gift for gin lovers due to the fact that it’s a nice change-up from other classic gin brands.
17. FEW Barrel-Aged Gin
Some would argue that barrel-aged spirits with a white whiskey as base spirit (like the FEW Barrel-Aged Gin) are not actually gin anymore. It could probably better be described as a botanical-infused whiskey or something like that.
Still, FEW claims their Barrel-Aged Gin is in fact still a gin due to the fact that the predominant ingredient in the spirit is juniper berries. The fact that the base spirit is not a neutral grain spirit like most gins, doesn’t change anything about the terminology.
What does change is the flavor palate of the gin. Because the base spirit is a white whiskey and is aged in charred barrels, you get a quite unique type of gin, that could remind you of a nice whiskey.
Its tasting notes are quite complex with spice and sweetness. Alongside that, there are strong citrus notes of lemon and orange.
All this doesn’t take away from the strong juniper notes in the spirit, which makes it great for gin lovers as well as whiskey lovers.
What Makes A Gin Great To Gift?
Due to the ever increasing rise in popularity of gin, there’s a ton of variety in different gins on the market right now. From classic London Dry gins to Old Tom gins, to flavored gins, gin liqueurs, and exclusive limited edition gins.
The vast variety of gins means that there is something for everyone out there, no matter the taste palate or the budget you’re on. Even if you know the gift-receiver is not a fan of gin at all, you could still give them a nice gin as a gift.
You could in that case opt for a more easy-to-drink gin to ease them into the gin-drinking community.
The best gins to gift are most often either somewhat more exclusive, are bottled in a fancy-looking bottle, or are a bit more expensive than other gins. Other great gins to gift could be unique gins that use a few very uncommon botanicals or gins with a vibrant color to really catch the eye.
Which kind of gin is best to gift depends a lot on the situation, season, and the person you’re gifting it to. If you’d like to gift a gin during Christmas for instance you could look at something a bit more sweet and warm.
For someone’s birthday, it could be a great idea to gift a more exclusive or unique gin with more uncommonly used botanicals.
When a gin is bottled in a fancy-looking bottle it could also be a really great gift due to the fact that it would look great, or at least be an eye-catcher, in any bar.
For the experienced gin fanatics, you could opt for a set of small bottles of unique gins so they could do a tasting themselves and decide which bottle they want to buy next.
This is a really easy gift that you can’t really go wrong with because there will most likely be at least one gin in the set that they would like.
Final Thoughts
The best gins are known for their great taste and quality. Use the ones we mentioned here as a gift to your loved ones and they will surely love them.
You may also want to stock up when you see sales around Christmas time as people usually gift alcohol which is considered a treat at parties.
