Want to try a Christmas gin? Looking for a Christmas gift for gin lovers? We’ve found the best spiced gins to buy for Christmas including our homemade Christmas gin recipe
Four Pillars Christmas Gin, £51.97/70cl, Amazon
A blend of gin distilled with Christmas puddings and gin aged in scotch whisky barrels – plus a touch of muscat – results in a festive spirit that will warm your cockles on cold nights.
Botanicals: Christmas pudding, juniper, cinnamon, star anise, coriander, angelica, muscat.
Perfect pairing: One to sip neat, preferably in front of the fire.
Boatyard Old Tom Gin, £45.20/70cl, Amazon
A beautifully packaged, cask-aged Irish gin that comes flavoured with Fermanagh honey. This comes through on the nose and palate, as do notes of hay, cocoa, vanilla and spice.
Botanicals: Juniper, coriander, honey, angelica, lemon, grains of paradise, sweet gale.
Perfect pairing: Sip on its own, or try it in a martini.
Whitley Neill Blood Orange Gin, £26/70cl, Amazon
This fragrant number packs in lots of juicy citrus – with dryness from Sicilian blood oranges that pairs well with the gin, and subtle notes of orange peel and pepper
Botanicals: Juniper, orange, lemon, orris bark, coriander seed, angelica root, blood orange extract
Perfect pairing: Enjoy in a G&T with fresh slices of orange, or try it with fresh grapefruit juice and lime for a zesty paloma.
OPHIR European Edition, £26.95, Master of Malt
OPHIR is one of olive’s go-to spiced gins and it has released new expressions that celebrate three different regions of the world – from Europe and Arabia to the Far East. Its European edition, wonderfully soft on the palate, is a warming, subtly savoury affair with woody, earthy spice.
Botanicals: cascarilla bark and myrrh
Perfect pairing: try mixing with Campari and sweet red vermouth for a spiced take on a negroni
Pickering’s Original 1947 Gin, £28.75/70cl, Master of Malt
Made using an old family recipe written in Bombay in 1947, this is a super-powered spiced gin with notes of cloves, cinnamon, anise and cardamom, and some subtle citrus. Soft, and almost creamy on the palate, with background sweetness and a long finish.
Botanicals: Juniper, cardamom, coriander, fennel, anise, lemon, lime and cloves.
Perfect pairing: Garnish with a slice of fresh orange.
Slingsby Marmalade Gin, £36.95/70cl, The Whisky Exchange
This brand produces some of the best flavoured gins (try the rhubarb and gooseberry varieties) and its latest release uses Yorkshire marmalade to create a gin with well-balanced sweetness and fragrant tangerine-like orange notes.
Botanicals: Yorkshire marmalade, green and jasmine tea, seven sea rosemary, silver posie thyme, citrus thyme, thyme, rhubarb, sage, lovage, chervil, hyssop, primrose, sweet cicely, oregano, nettle, milk thistle, heather, rosehip, juniper, angelica, cassia, orris, grapefruit, coriander seed and liquorice
Perfect pairing: Fever-Tree Mediterranean tonic water and a twist of orange peel
Darnley’s Spiced Gin, £33.95/70cl, The Whisky Exchange
One for those who can find some spiced gins a little overpowering, this Scottish number has a subtle, restrained spice that’s balanced by juniper, with a lingering, peppery finish.
Botanicals: Juniper, cloves, grains of paradise and ginger.
Perfect pairing: Drink with ginger ale.
Want to try the best pink gins?
Click here for the results of our taste test
Flavours include:
- Pinot noir gin
- Pink grapefruit gin
- Rhuabrb gin
Make our Christmas gin recipe here
Infuse your own gin with festive flavours (clementine, ginger and bay), wrap it up nice and give it to a special someone this Christmas. It’s a unique and thoughtful gift that’s really easy to make.
