Gin Categories

A brief overview of the confusing variety of gin categories. We are not aiming for completeness here. We are simply trying to present the most important types of gin.

Genever

Genever takes pride of place here because it represents the forefather of all other types of gin. It originated in Holland back in the 17th century. Originally intended as a medicinal remedy, it combined brandy with spices and herbs. The most important ingredient was and still is juniper. In Dutch, juniper is 'jenever'. That's how the drink got its name. Genever is still produced and drunk in the Netherlands and Belgium today. It is characterised by its typical grain flavour and a generous portion of juniper.

Compound Gin

As jenever became popular in England under a new name, gin, in the 18th century, consumption rose to unforeseen levels. Many households and every public house produced gin. Consequently, manufacturing methods were often simple. The various herbs, fruits, and spices (botanicals) were simply steeped in brandy, left for a certain period, and then bottled and drunk directly without further distillation.

The maceration (steeping) often took place in large vats. This is why compound gin is often also called bathtub gin. The quality often left something to be desired due to the extremely simple production methods. Today, compound gins are of course produced to the highest quality.

Old Tom Gin

The often very cheap and poorly made compound gin of the 18th century led to the market being flooded with the inexpensive swill. In this era, everyone drank the dirt-cheap gin. The social and health consequences were catastrophic. The authorities tried, with limited success, to suppress this. As a result, many public houses were forced to sell their gin in secret.

One way of doing this was with small cat figures attached to the façade. If a coin was placed in the figure, the customer would receive a certain amount of illegally produced gin. This was often sweetened with a lot of sugar to hide its inferior quality. Black male cats are also called “Old Tomcat” in English. That's where the heavily sweetened gin got its name. Nowadays, Old Tom Gin is elaborately double-distilled and only lightly sweetened.

London Dry Gin

After the English had had their experiences with low-quality jenever and some poor harvests meant that gin could no longer be reliably produced cheaply, some gentlemen in London created a gin style that was to be cleanly distilled and unsweetened. London Dry Gin developed from the second half of the 18th century onwards. Today, London Dry Gin can be produced anywhere. The “London” in the name is therefore not a designation of origin.

A maximum of 0.1 grams of sugar may be added per litre of gin. All flavouring botanicals impart their taste to the neutral alcohol during distillation. After this, nothing more may be added to the gin. London Dry Gin is very juniper-forward. Certain proven herbs and citrus aromas complement the typical flavour.

New Western Gin

At the dawn of the new millennium, the newest of the gin categories, some of which are centuries old, emerged with New Western Gin. This marked a departure from the classic juniper-forward flavour profile. Instead, other botanicals are more in demand. These often include unusual plants such as cucumber, rose, lemongrass, or yuzu fruit. Consequently, New Western Gins vary greatly from one another. Few commonalities can be found between them. The only shared characteristic is the subordinate role of juniper.

Sloe Gin

The name ‘sloe gin’ can be somewhat misleading. This is because the liqueur isn’t actually gin. To make sloe gin, sloes are steeped in gin. Once the liquid has taken on the flavour and colour of the berries, it is sweetened with sugar and then bottled. Like its colour and flavour, the name derives from the berries. In English, ‘Schlehe’ is known as ‘sloe’. Sloe gin has an alcohol content of between 25% and 35%.