There is a certain appeal in trying to be all things to everyone, especially if you are a spirit producer in a time where consumption is under threat and the forces of market uncertainty and prohibitive regulation are gathering like storm clouds on the horizon.
Happily for gin makers, they are in the enviable position of being the most agile and versatile spirit on the market, with an unmatched ability to pivot to whatever the latest trends are.
| Related stories: |
| The World's Best Gins of 2024 |
| The Most Expensive Gins of 2024 |
| Indian Gin's Spiritual Homecoming |
Of all spirits – and white spirits particularly – gin is in the box seat. Vodka is popular because it literally tastes of nothing, and the more like nothing it tastes the better people like it. White rum tends to run a narrow gamut of flavors from A to B, while white Tequila tastes of agave, regardless of which brand you plump for.
Even whiskey doesn't have quite the same level of versatility as gin. Yes, there is variation between countries, styles and even distilleries, but really it is the narcissism of small differences, to quote Sigmund Freud. It is an incremental level of difference that appeals to the nerd, the train-spotter and the whiskey tragic, but all bottles of whiskey are identifiably "whiskey".
Not so with gin. Despite having to be made using juniper berries in the mix (in order to be classed as gin), the vast array of botanicals available – virtually every imaginable non-poisonous plant on earth – means gin has more potential flavor profiles than any other spirit. And it clearly works – gin's popularity is higher than ever, mostly because these days there is so much variety available that there is virtually a gin for everyone's palate.
Look at the gin selection in your local liquor store – or even your local bar. Every possible citrus fruit is used, from yuzu lemon to mandarin orange. You prefer more nuanced flavors? How about watermelon or cucumber? Basil? Something bolder, perhaps what about rich berries? Cherries? How about tea? There are even decent non-alcoholic gins available.
Usually, trying to be all things to all people is a path to ruin, but gin manages to not just cover all the bases, but also to develop surprisingly deep relationships with consumers while it's at it. One distillery can – and frequently does – produce variations on the same spirit that appeal deeply to very different consumers; it's a kind of magic.
It also explains why gin is so popular. But let's see which gins people are searching our vast database of spirits for.
The big difference between last year and this year is that we have removed some gins from the reckoning. Last year, four of the top 10 were Indian gins, and predominantly available only in India. They hit our most searched-for list because of the sheer volume of traffic to our site from the world's most populous country, so this year we are going to look at the more global picture. For completeness' sake, the three gins we have removed are the Jaisalmer Craft Gin, the Greater Than Gin and McDowell's Blue Riband Gin.
For the rest, it's an interesting picture, with four new gins elbowing their way into the top 10. Perhaps surprisingly, one of those is Hendrick's, a gin with the kind of reputation and global recognition that many brands would kill for, but which missed out on the top 10 last year (and only scraped in to 10th place in 2023).
Another surprise is the presence of Gordon's Gin, perhaps the most resolutely old-fashioned of all the gins on this list. A fiercely traditional gin, it forms, alongside Beefeater and Tanqueray, the old-school, old guard triumvirate of boss gins from the time before gin was trendy, so it's nice to see it is getting its time in the limelight, too.
The other newbies are Spain's Libellis and the Dutch Hofland. The latter is something of an anomaly, in that although it is made in the Netherlands, it is produced in the London dry style rather than the traditional Dutch jenever style, giving as clear an insight into the direction of travel of gin styles as anything I can think of.
Bombay Sapphire – naturally – is the most wanted international gin again, although the Ginebra, from the Philippines is giving it a good run for its money.
And, speaking of money, gin is also popular with consumers because they rarely feel like they are being ripped off. Gin prices are as low now as they were last year, with pretty much no change over the intervening 12 months – apart from the Monkey 47 Distiller's Cut being $2 cheaper on average globally.
Now that's what I call market appeal.
