Best Flavoured Gin To Try

Elephant Orange Cocoa Gin

Best charitable gin

This layered flavoured gin takes Elephant’s original London Dry Gin – made using a blend of rare African botanicals – and adds organic Spanish orange and roasted cocoa beans. The result is heady aromas of citrus and mellow milk chocolate – think Terry’s Chocolate Orange in the best possible way. Those rounded cocoa and vibrant citrus notes remain on the palate but it’s drier and more herbaceous to taste, with a hint of spice. Even better, 15% of profits from each bottle sold go to African elephant conservation.

Flavour profile: citrus

Botanicals: organic Spanish orange and roasted cocoa bean.

Perfect pairing: try in a subtly cocoa-tinged negroni.

Available from:
Elephant Gin (£32.90)

Tanqueray Blackcurrant Royale

Best blackcurrant gin

Floral, mellow and brimming with French blackcurrants, Tanqueray’s Blackcurrant Royale has got summer sipping written all over it. It’s smooth and elegant in both texture and taste (helped by added vanilla) and, though packed with fruit, remains on the subtle side of sweet.

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Flavour profile: fruity

Botanicals: Blackcurrants, vanilla, coriander, juniper, angelica root, liquorice

Perfect pairing: make a beautiful violet-tinged G&T, or add to prosecco for a lighter twist on a kir royale. For something fancier, mix Blackcurrant Royale with lemon juice, sugar syrup and prosecco for a summery take on a French 75.

Available from:
Waitrose Cellar (£27)
Amazon (£28.99)
Ocado (£25.50)

Tarquin’s Cornish Sunshine Blood Orange Gin

Best alternative to an aperitif

Sweetly tart citrus, rhubarb and berry flavours are balanced by a herbaceous bitterness that brings to mind an Italian-style aperitif such as Campari or Aperol.

Flavour profile: citrus

Botanicals: juniper, coriander seed, liquorice root, angelica root, orris root, green cardamom, cinnamon, bitter almonds, orange, lemon and grapefruit peel, violets, gentian root, rhubarb, blood orange, raspberries

Perfect pairing: Complex and smooth enough to drink neat on its own, but we suggest serving it spritz style – preferably at aperitivo hour.

Available from:
Master of Malt (£35.99)
Amazon (£32.99)

The Wrecking Coast Distillery Clotted Cream Gin

Best unusual flavoured gin

Sounds like it could be one step too far, right? But The Wrecking Coast Distillery has executed this totally Cornish gin with such subtlety that it’s actually the dreamy mouthfeel of clotted cream that you get, as opposed to the flavour. To make it, fresh clotted cream is cold-distilled under vacuum (to produce a clear spirit) and combined with classic botanicals and Cornish spring water. The effect is a gin with all the depth of clotted cream, but with a surprisingly light and honeyed floral flavour.

Flavour profile: Floral

Botanicals: Juniper, coriander, chamomile, vanilla, angelica, liquorice, orris, grains of paradise, cassia bark, cinnamon, lemon peel and aniseed

Perfect pairing: With a good-quality tonic water and fresh strawberries, plus a little squeeze of lime.

Available from:
Master of Malt (£31.94)
The Whisky Exchange (£31.95)

LoneWolf Cactus and Lime Gin

Best tequila alternative

If you love the idea of a margarita but tequila isn’t your thing try this quirkily flavoured gin from BrewDog Distilling Co. Pressed cactus juice and Queen of the Night cactus flower add a sweet tropical edge (think lychee and watermelon) cut with zesty kaffir lime leaf.

Flavour profile: citrus/fruit

Botanicals: Cactus flower (Queen of the Night), cactus plant, kaffir lime, Scots pine, Tuscan juniper, grapefruit peel, lemon peel, pink peppercorn, orris root, angelica, mace, cardamom, lemongrass, almonds, lime, coriander and lavender

Perfect pairing: Sip on its own over ice, use in place of tequila in a margarita or just add a dash of soda and a twist of lime peel.

Available from:
Brewdog (£25)
Tesco (£26.50)
Master of Malt (£29.95)

Sipsmith Orange & Cacao Gin

Best for chocoholics

An orange and cacao gin sounds like it could be incredibly sickly – this is anything but. With clean, bold juniper aromas, sweet, marmalade-like citrus and subtle, well-balanced cocoa notes on the palate, this is the classy gin equivalent of a Terry’s Chocolate Orange.

Flavour profile: citrus

Botanicals: cacao nibs, orange blossom, Seville orange peel, juniper

Perfect pairing: it’s smooth and sweet enough to drink on its own, over ice.

Available from:
Amazon (£25)
Waitrose Cellar (£25)

Hayman’s Sloe Gin

Best sloe gin

This festive number is made by steeping hand-picked sloe berries in Hayman’s London Dry Gin for three to four months. With a nice balance of sloe berries and a gentle hit of alcohol, it has a rich, fruity flavour without being too sweet and tastes like a proper sloe gin. Browse our best sloe gin round-up here for more inspiration.

Flavour profile: fruity

Botanicals: juniper, coriander, lemon peel, orange peel, angelica, cinnamon, cassia bark, orris, liquorice, nutmeg

Perfect pairing: drink neat over ice, or top up with sparkling wine for a kir royale-style cocktail.

Available from:
Amazon (£19.95)
Master of Malt (£22.99)
Ocado (£26)

Chase Pink Grapefruit and Pomelo Gin

Best pink grapefruit gin

Created by distilling Chase gin with grapefruit and pomelo peel, this is a super-fragrant spirit, full of zesty tartness and well-balanced bitter notes.

Botanicals: pink grapefruit, pomelo, juniper, coriander seed, bitter almond, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, angelica, liquorice, lemon peel, cardamom

Perfect pairing: try with tonic water and a wedge of pink grapefruit

Available from:
Waitrose Cellar (£28)
Amazon (£22)
Ocado (£28)

Whitley Neill Blood Orange Gin

Best blood orange gin

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.

Flavour profile: citrus

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

Available from:
Master of Malt (£24.95)
Amazon (£20.89)

Slingsby Gooseberry Gin

Best gooseberry gin

Slingsby’s rhubarb gin was a hit at olive HQ and now the Yorkshire distillery has released another tart and zesty winner. Here, tangy gooseberries (also sourced in Yorkshire) marry perfectly with the citrussy notes of the base gin.

Flavour profile: citrus

Botanicals: severn sea rosemary, silver posie thyme, green and jasmine tea, citrus thyme, garden thyme, rhubarb, sage, lovage, chervil, nettle, sweet cicely, rosehip, angelica, cassia, orris root, coriander, liquorice, grapefruit and juniper

Perfect pairing: the gin’s creamy mouthfeel means it would be lovely sipped neat with ice, or try topping up with some sparkling white wine for a spring-like spritz

Available from:
Ocado (£40)
Master of Malt (£31.99)
Amazon (£27.55)

Pipehouse Earl Grey & Cucumber Gin

Best small-batch gin

Proof that flavoured gins don’t have to be sickly sweet, this small-batch number, made in Tunbridge Wells, is clean and refreshing, with an intriguing vegetal back note. A less flowery alternative to Hendrick’s.

Flavour profile: floral

Botanicals: juniper, angelica, cucumber, earl grey

Perfect pairing: serve with tonic water and a slice of cucumber

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Tanqueray Flor De Sevilla

Best Spanish flavoured gin

The bittersweet zestiness of Seville oranges adds a taste of the Med to the botanicals in this gin, and subtle notes of orange blossom evoke fragrant summer evenings.

Flavour profile: fruity

Botanicals: Seville oranges, juniper, coriander, angelica, liquorice

Perfect pairing: serve with tonic water and a wedge of orange