How gin is made, from neutral spirit to juniper

Juniper leads, other botanicals follow

Under EU law, gin must taste predominantly of juniper. The small, dark berries of Juniperus communis give gin its piney, resinous, slightly peppery backbone. Around juniper, distillers build a recipe of other botanicals, often a dozen or fewer, sometimes many more.

The classic supporting cast is well established:

• Coriander seed, the most common partner, adds a warm, citrusy spice.
• Angelica root gives an earthy, dry depth and helps bind the other flavours.
• Orris root, from the iris, is floral and helps fix the aromas.
• Citrus peel, usually lemon or orange, brings freshness.
• Cassia bark, liquorice root and cardamom add warmth, sweetness or spice.

Modern gins often add botanicals that point to a place: local herbs, flowers, seaweed or fruit. The recipe is a distiller's signature, and most keep the exact proportions to themselves.

Three ways to put flavour into spirit

How the botanicals meet the spirit shapes the gin as much as which botanicals are used.

Steeping and distilling. The traditional method is to steep the botanicals in the neutral spirit, diluted with water, directly in a pot still. Some distillers leave them overnight, others distil straight away. The still is then heated, and the vapour carries the aromatic oils up and over into the condenser. This tends to give a rich, rounded gin.

Vapour infusion. Here the botanicals never touch the liquid. They sit in a perforated basket above the spirit, and the rising vapour passes through them, picking up their aromas on the way. The result is often lighter and more delicate. Many distilleries combine both methods, steeping robust ingredients such as juniper and roots and vapour-infusing fragile ones such as flowers and fresh peel.

Compounding. Without a second distillation, a producer can simply add natural flavourings or botanical extracts to neutral spirit. The result may be sold as gin, but not as distilled gin. Compounded gins can be good, and are how many gins were made historically, but the method gives less control over how the flavours integrate.

Heads, hearts and tails

When a gin is distilled, not everything that comes off the still ends up in the bottle. The first part of the run, the heads, contains the most volatile compounds and harsh aromas. The last part, the tails, becomes oily and flat as heavier compounds come through. The distiller collects the middle, the heart, and decides by taste, smell and experience exactly where to make the cuts.

Some distillers make a concentrated distillate using a large quantity of botanicals, then blend it with more neutral spirit. This is known as the multi-shot method. Others use exactly the botanicals needed for one batch, the one-shot method. Both are legitimate, and both can make excellent gin.

Bringing it down to strength

Freshly distilled gin comes off the still far stronger than any drinker would want. It is reduced with water, usually demineralised or very soft, to bottling strength. In the EU a gin must be bottled at 37.5% ABV or more, and many premium gins sit between 40% and 47%. Higher strengths carry more botanical oils and stand up better in cocktails, but a lower strength can make a gentler, easy-drinking gin.

Some gins are rested before bottling so the flavours settle, and some are lightly filtered. A few are aged in wood, which adds colour and a softer, rounder finish.

What the labels mean

The words on a gin label follow rules in the EU, set out in the EU spirit drinks regulation, Regulation (EU) 2019/787.

• Gin is the broadest category: a juniper-flavoured spirit, which may be compounded.
• Distilled gin must be made by distilling neutral spirit with juniper and other botanicals. Flavourings may still be added afterwards.
• London gin, often called London Dry, is a type of distilled gin with the strictest rules. All of its flavour must come from the distillation itself, it cannot be coloured, and only a tiny amount of sweetening is allowed. Despite the name, it can be made anywhere: London Dry describes a method, not a place.

Beyond the legal categories, you will meet style names. Old Tom is a slightly sweeter style popular in the nineteenth century. Navy strength gins are bottled at a high strength, commonly around 57% ABV. Gin's ancestor, genever, from the Netherlands and Belgium, is made with malt wine, a malted-grain spirit, and its older styles can taste closer to a light whisky.

Tasting what you have learned

The best way to understand how gin is made is to taste two styles side by side. Pour a small measure of a classic London Dry and a contemporary gin with floral or citrus botanicals. Add a splash of cold water to each, then smell and taste. You will find the juniper in both, but the balance around it will be different: that difference is the distiller's recipe and method at work.

Gin is also the backbone of many classic cocktails. If you want to see how vermouth, gin's most famous partner, is made, read our beginner's guide to vermouth, then browse our cocktail recipes or everything we publish about gin.