Tomorrow’s World Gin Day – and the tipple’s rarely been as popular Just the tonic for an Irish revival

IHAVE to say that I wasn’t aware that we have a World Gin Day, but we do, and it is actually tomorrow. That we have such a thing, however, seems entirely appropriate, for gin appears to be taking over the world and, to be fair, it’s a very summery drink.

It seems timely, however, to also ask if we have reached peak gin?

I’m wondering how many more artisan, craft, wholemeal, handknitted brands the market will sustain, but the industry seems convinced that there’s more mileage in the spirit.

The renaissance of gin owes a lot to Sipsmith, the English gin that started in a tiny lock-up garage in West London as recently as 2009.

That lit the fuse. Suddenly, it seemed, new gins were popping up everywhere.

Before that, gin and its inevitable companion, tonic, was not just irredeemably middle-aged and middle-class but, frankly, seen as a bit dowdy and decidedly dull.

Here in Ireland, it was all about Cork Dry, and across the water Gordon’s ruled the roost.

It was, however, a drink that was in terminal decline.

This is not the first time that gin has been rehabilitated. The early English versions were responsible for mass alcohol abuse, luridly portrayed by the artist Hogarth in the eighteenth century. The mania for ‘mother’s ruin’ was countered, up to a point, by an early experiment in minimum pricing.

Respectability was conferred on the spirit in the early decades of the nineteenth century with the spread of the British empire and its experience of malaria.

Soldiers and officers of the Raj were required to take quinine powder every day – in doses which would now be considered quite dangerous. It was horribly bitter. It made sense to disguise the taste by adding the quinine to water with some sugar and, I suspect, fresh lemon or lime juice. In time they used soda water and gave the drink a kick by adding gin.

THE first commercial tonic water, now combining quinine, was launched in 1858, Schweppes following in 1870. Gin and tonic, pretty well as we know it today, was knocking around the more malarial parts of the British colonies from the middle of the nineteenth century.

‘The gin and tonic,’ wrote wartime prime minister Winston Churchill, ‘has saved more Englishmen’s lives, and minds, than all the doctors in the Empire.’

The same, no doubt, went for a lot of women.

Gin takes its predominant flavour from juniper berries and its name from the Dutch for juniper – jenever. The story starts with a juniper-flavoured spirit that became popular in the Low Countries in the seventeenth century. It came to these islands with William of Orange and, as we have seen, has had its ups and downs.

But it started, essentially, as a medicine, sold by apothecaries, thanks to juniper’s soothing effect on the digestion.

A little-recognised quality of juniper is that it helps to combat flatulence. These days, London Dry gin – which is a way of making gin, not a geographical description – is, essentially, ethanol distilled with botanicals (herbs, fruits, sometimes even seaweed). Basic gin is just ethanol with essences mixed in. One of the most successful new-wave gins, Hendrick’s, lies between the two; it’s partly distilled from botanicals but essence of rose and cucumber have to be added to produce the distinctive flavour (that I think doesn’t taste remotely of gin; proper gin is meant to lead with juniper!).

For years, gin in Ireland meant Cork Dry and it still commands much loyalty, despite being made with essences and, in my view, tasting somewhat unpleasant. Then, in 2012, came Dingle Gin from the Dingle Whiskey Distillery in Co. Kerry, the brainchild of the late Oliver Hughes.

Dingle Original Pot Still Gin was the first London Dry gin to be produced in Ireland, launched in 2012. It has a lovely up-front juniper character with plenty of citrus zing, plus intriguing notes from stuff like local bog myrtle, hawthorn and even fuchsia. At about €36 for 70cl, it’s also among the best value of the new wave.

Blackwater No.5 came next, created by former RTÉ producer, Peter Mulryan in Cappoquin, Co. Waterford. It has a proper juniper character but not enough to shout down the other, much more subtle flavours and aromas such as bergamot orange, citrus zest, herbs, even a whiff of something like lavender. It’s also very dry and this emphasises, for me, its elegance, almost a delicacy. Good value, too, at about €30 for 50cl.

Blackwater also makes the lovely Boyle’s Irish Botanical Gin for Aldi. The best value of all at €24.99 for 70cl, it has all the gin essentials: juniper, citrus, coriander. But there’s a fruitiness with a touch of sweetness, elderflower and intriguing spiciness from pink peppercorns. So successful has Blackwater been that it is moving to a new distillery, right on the river, in the heart of Ballyduff, Co. Waterford later this year.

Pat Rigney’s Drumshanbo Irish Gunpowder Gin, as distinctive as its exceptional packaging, (about €55 for 70cl) delivers citrus first, then the juniper burst, but after that it gets very complex and there’s a honeyed scent I’m guessing comes from meadowsweet, one of my favourite wild flowers. The gunpowder refers to gunpowder green tea which is one of the botanicals. Other Irish gins that have impressed me include both Boatyard and Shortcross from Northern Ireland, Listoke from Co. Louth, Dublin City Gin and the unusual Bertha’s Revenge from North Cork.

OF course, the problem with the success that gin has been experiencing of late is that it can be seen as a way to a quick buck. Unlike whiskey, which takes three years of ageing before it can be legally sold as such, gin is virtually instant. You can distil it on Monday and sell it on Tuesday. As a result of investors jumping on the bandwagon, quality is by no means consistent and misleading labelling is not unknown.

The Irish Spirits Association is addressing this within their Strategy for Irish Gin 2018-2022 which will create standards for production and labelling and which also aims to push exports to 500,000 bottles within four years.

The most popular way to consume gin remains with tonic, ice and a slice of lemon – although some gin producers suggest that lime is a more sympathetic citrus companion. Of course, gin is the essential spirit for most of the world’s most celebrated cocktails, created in the first half of the last century and currently enjoying a massive revival. The gin martini is, of course, the ginniest: an almost homeopathic quantity of vermouth stirred with a measure of gin and a great deal of ice, strained and served with a twist of lemon zest. As one can imagine, such a drink is not for the fainthearted.

A less potent way to enjoy gin without the distractions of tonic or other additions that will inevitably mask its true character is to drink it neat over ice (which will gradually dilute the alcohol) or with a smaller amount of soda than you would normally have of tonic.

In any case, gin would appear to be here to stay. No doubt the current mania will subside eventually and those brands with real quality and character will be able to look to solid futures ahead.

As for us consumers, we are spoiled for choice and have an opportunity to support a native industry in the most pleasant,