QUENCHING A THIRST
Gins made by the world’s biggest gin-consuming nation
Which country drinks the most gin? This is a question that I’m asked from time to time. Despite the spirit’s popularity in the UK, Spain, and Australia, the answer (as some informed readers may already know) is the Philippines, at least on the face of it.
A single brand, Ginebra San Miguel (GSM), sold an astonishing 31.2 million (ninelitre) cases in 2020, which compares with 6.7 million cases for Gordon’s and 4.3 million for Bombay. Ginebra San Miguel is mostly consumed domestically within the Philippines and, in 2020, was the second largest spirit brand in the world after the South
Korean Soju brand Jinro.
All of GSM’s gins appear to be compounded, which means that they are made by combining flavour essences with a neutral base alcohol, in this case made from sugarcane. The company produces three main gins: a Red variety that is bottled at 40.0% ABV; a Blue “Light Gin” bottled at 27.5% ABV; and a Premium variety bottled at 35.0% ABV. It is worth noting that, due to their lower alcoholic strength (under 37.5%), most countries would not technically consider these last two to be gin.
GSM has obvious commercial success, but not everyone is a fan; Geraldine Coates described it in her excellent book Classic Gin as “a distinctly dodgy spirit that tastes like arak and is flavoured with obviously chemical compounds”. Despite this, a look at the GSM Red Facebook page suggests most people drink the gin neat, or perhaps in a Gimlet (on the rocks), and that it is most commonly served alongside food. Drinks suggested on the website tend to be either citrus-based (the Gin Pomelo sounds lovely) or mixed with various coffee drinks. This view is backed up by Coates’ book, which describes it typically being drunk neat or with ice, which is why “they get through so much”.
I tried GSM Red some years back and recall that it had minimal juniper – more piney, if anything – with hints of almond and boiled sweets (hard candy). It was decidedly average (by UK standards), although with Angostura bitters it made a passable Pink Gin.
The recent boom in distilling, particularly gin, came to the Philippines like much of the rest of the world, in the form of ARC (short for “Archipelago”) Gin from Full Circle Distillers. Their spirit was inspired by master distiller Peter Westfall, who fled the Russian revolution and arrived in Manila in 1918. Peter used his knowledge of brewing and distilling to capture the flavours of local flora. Nearly 100 years later, Peter’s grandson Matthew and his wife Laurie decided to resurrect the old family trade and launched two gins alongside a lava-filtered vodka.
Archipelago Botanical Gin is made using 28 botanicals (22 of which are found locally), including fresh pomelo, calamansi (a citrus fruit predominantly cultivated in the Philippines), and Benguet pine. The result is a relatively classic gin with a good dose of juniper, but with a local twist and fantastic complexity. The distillery’s Barrel Reserve Gin is the same gin that has been matured in new American oak barrels, resulting in an elegant symphony of citrus and spice. Both the gins have received awards at the World Gin Awards, Gin Magazine’s sister competition.
The recent boom in distilling... came to the Philippines like much of the rest of the world
Another challenger to the global #1 is Crows Hand-crafted Gin from Crows Craft Brewing & Distilling Co. of Quezon City. It uses a mix of traditional and local botanicals such as calamansi, jasmine, pandan leaves and labuyo chilli pepper. The distillery also make an aged gin, rums and a mango eau de vie – sounds delicious!
Not to be outdone by the new competition, Ginebra San Miguel has recently developed a new distilled gin called 1834 Premium Distilled Gin, which was released in March 2022. 1834 is a reference to when Ginebra San Miguel first started, and the gin’s botanicals include sampaguita (Arabian jasmine), calamansi (a popular choice!), lemon, and orange. I have not had the chance to try this new gin, but have high hopes if it’s designed to compete with ARC. The days of the so-called “dodgy spirit” are hopefully well in the past!