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Gin · 6 min read

Gin: learn to taste the difference

Styles are easiest to learn with your nose. A short protocol beats another shelf chart.

A gin tasting flight at Tales of the Cocktail — stemmed glasses on a marked mat, including Beefeater London and Plymouth

The big idea

Learn styles with a short protocol, not a shelf chart.

The rule

A tasting protocol

Nose → sip → two words → name
1

Nose

Smell it first — no sip yet.

2

Sip

A little, then air.

3

Two words

Write what you found.

4

Name

London dry or contemporary.

Old Tom and genever are footnotes. Guessing the style first just trains you to confirm the label.

Smell first. Taste. Two words — then name the style. Guessing early just trains you to confirm what the label already told you. “Juniper, dry” or “floral, soft” will still help you at the shelf next month. A stack of botanist names will not.

Name London dry vs contemporary first. Old Tom and genever are footnotes: Hayman’s (sweeter) or Bols (malt-forward). Write the words. Then look at the bottle.

What to listen for

Styles that change Martini and Negroni behavior

London dry

Juniper · dry

Contemporary

Citrus · floral

Navy / overproof

Hot · holds citrus

Old Tom

Softer · historic

London dry: juniper, peel, a dry finish. Beefeater or Tanqueray if you need a named glass. If pine and citrus pith are the first things you smell, you found the cocktail default.

Contemporary: citrus candy, cucumber, florals, or spice in front. Hendrick’s is the usual cucumber-floral example. If the nose is a garden and juniper is a rumor, believe it.

Old Tom: softer, a little sweet — Hayman’s is the shopping footnote. Useful in older specs. Not a silent dry Martini pour.

Genever: malt, bread, oil under the juniper — Bols is the familiar cousin. Closer to whiskey in a stirred drink.

Tip

Mini labs

A: A juniper-led London dry (Beefeater or Tanqueray) vs a contemporary such as Hendrick’s, neat. Same splash, same glass shape. Two words each. Then name the style.

B: The same tiny vermouth taste — a barspoon in each gin. Name which one stayed structured.

C: Tonic alone, then a G&T with each gin. If the highball tastes soapy or flat, decide whether the gin or the tonic did that. Warm soda is a third suspect.

Common mistakes

  • Style named from the label before the glass → smell, sip, write two words, then look.
  • Aromatic gin written down as “craft” → describe the bill instead: juniper-led (Beefeater / Tanqueray) vs cucumber-floral (Hendrick’s).
  • Six bottles tasted in a rush, none remembered → taste two pours (London dry vs Hendrick’s), write two words each, then stop.

In the glass

Practice these

Read the drill, then make the drink once focusing on that cue — repetition beats another paragraph.

A tall highball of Gin and Tonic with clear ice, rising bubbles, and a lime wedge.

Gin

Gin and Tonic

Mini-lab C, in a drink: taste the tonic alone, then the G&T. Name whether the gin or the soda is the mismatch.

A clear dry Martini in a V-shaped cocktail glass with a thin lemon twist resting on the rim.

Gin

Martini

Mini-lab B: same whisper of vermouth, two gins. Name which one kept the drink from cologne.

A Negroni in a rocks glass over a large clear ice cube with a wide orange peel resting on the side.

Gin

Negroni

Smell the gin before Campari goes in. If it already smells like a flower stall, this equal-parts drink will bury it.

A coupe of Last Word with a pale green tint and a maraschino cherry.

Gin

Last Word

Two words for the gin first — then taste whether it still has a voice under Chartreuse.

A Last Word in a stemmed cocktail glass — pale green, condensation on the bowl

Up next · 7 min

Gin: four classics, four lessons →

In Gin: from bottle to classics · Library