Upgrade your martini hour with bartender-approved bottles
Written by Kate Dingwall
Gin, though usually considered an easy-sipping clear spirit, is a complex category. There are herbaceous gins, citrus gins, malty gins, and gins spiced with roots and herbs. There are gins that shine in a martini, and breezier gins designed to pair perfectly with a gin and tonic. Thanks to a wave of new producers around the globe, many gins now showcase local botanicals—Malfy Gin out of Italy is crafted with bright Mediterranean citrus, while Dutch genevers use local grains for malty, heavy-body gins. In Canada, gins are being produced with gin while Porter’s Gin makes gin from the Buddha’s Hand.
To help navigate the realm of gins, we asked a team of professional bartenders for their can’t-live-without bottles. These cocktail experts have selected tried-and-true gins that shine in martinis, Negronis, and gimlets, and of course, the best gin for a simple G&T.
Read on to learn more about the best gins available.
Best for Negronis: Tod & Vixen’s Dry Gin
“A pretty recent addition to the U.S. gin market, Tod & Vixen’s Dry Gin 1651 was made in consultation with three of the most influential beverage industry personalities,” describes Tom Lasher-Walker, of One Minute Mixology and former bartender of The Savoy in London and Attaboy in Manhattan.
What results from the collaboration is a gin with English providence with a flavor profile designed for American bartending. “Leo Robitschek, Jeffery Morgenthaler, and the late Gary ‘gaz’ Regan all had a hand in its production and botanical recipe,” continues Lasher-Walker. He notes the bartending trio designed the gin to shine particularly well in a Negroni, Regan’s signature. “The gin is a solid workhorse of a spirit with strong juniper notes and a healthy 48% ABV. It’s also non-chill filtered, giving it a good body and depth!”