What is Gin?

Gin is a distilled spirit whose character comes from botanicals, of which juniper must be perceptible. In the European Union it is a juniper-flavoured spirit drink at a minimum of 37.5% ABV; United States bottlings are typically 40% or higher. Most cocktail gin begins as a high-proof neutral spirit that is redistilled — or sometimes macerated — with juniper and other botanicals. London dry gin may not be flavored after distillation. The mash matters less to the mixed drink than the botanical bill and whether the spirit is dry, lightly sweetened (Old Tom), or malt-based (genever).

In the glass gin is a flavored base, not a blank one. Its botanicals stand up to dry vermouth in the martini, to tonic in a highball, to citrus in the sour and Collins families, and to Campari and Chartreuse in equal-parts stirred drinks. When a recipe specifies only “gin,” London dry is the historical and practical default.

Juniper (pine, resin) is required; coriander seed, citrus peel, angelica, and orris are common supporting botanicals. London dry is relatively dry, crisp, and pine-forward. Contemporary gins may emphasize floral, cucumber, or citrus notes and recede beside Campari. Genever carries malt-wine weight that London dry does not.

Genever, a malt-wine spirit flavored with juniper, developed in the Netherlands by the 16th–17th centuries and traveled to England, where cheaper grain spirit and, later, continuous column distillation produced a drier, cleaner style. London dry gin became the 19th-century export standard: unsweetened, botanically assertive, and suited to gin palaces and the emerging mixed-drink repertoire.

Victorian and Edwardian bars used that gin in sours, the Collins (a sour lengthened with soda), and the martini, which settled in the late 19th century as gin and dry vermouth. The Negroni (Florence, around 1919–20) and the Last Word (Detroit Athletic Club, about 1916) are 20th-century templates that still depend on gin’s botanicals rather than on a neutral spirit.

Treat London dry as the mixing default in martinis, gin sours, Collins and gin-and-tonic highballs, and equal-parts drinks with vermouth, Campari, or Chartreuse. Navy-strength gin (typically around 57% ABV) is useful in stirred drinks that can absorb the extra ethanol; it can unbalance a delicate sour. Contemporary floral gins suit highballs and citrus-forward drinks but often disappear beside Campari. Genever or Old Tom will sweeten and weight a recipe written for London dry — closer to a Martinez than to a dry martini. Gin is shelf-stable; citrus botanicals fade only slowly over years.