The best places to drink gin in London

It is a long, long time since gin’s only dance partner was tonic. Though still — mostly — clear, it glows luminescent on bar shelves, a bona fide star. Its versatility and broad appeal means it has become the bottle bartenders lean on for new ideas to please difficult customers.

Gone, too, are the days when gin just tasted of your parent’s summer drinks, of juniper and lemon peel and too much ice. Botanicals now stretch as far as baobab fruit (Whitley Neill) and cherry blossom (Jinzu) and even the process is having a makeover: Sipsmith does a Bonfire brew. It’s smoked over cherry wood and is gorgeous sipped neat, or with a little ice, and is a bit like a British mezcal.

The slew of new gins shows no sign of slowing up. Early next month, The Marylebone hotel will unveil its own gin which, far from being a simple relabel of a bigger brand, is actually its own blend dreamt up in the restaurant, where they’ve called the still Isabella. On Old Street The Gibson bar this week started pouring out its new Copperhead blend.

Perhaps it’s no surprise that demand shows no sign of waning: there's even the fantastic Craft Gin Club, which boasts a botanical-loving 33,000 monthly subscribers, all getting a fresh bottle every month. Gin has lubricated these streets since the 1700s; long may it continue. Here’s where to drink a ginful.

Central

The heart of London is brimming over with gin. You’re spoilt for choice at Rosewood London: turn right into Scarfes bar for Chaplin-inspired cocktail Walk With a Waddle (Tanqueray 10, spiced sticks, sherry, rhubarb, apple and black cherry), or left into the Holborn Dining Room, which has London’s largest selection of gin: 525 different bottles plus 20 different tonics for tippling. It also runs Gin Journey masterclasses each weekend. If you’re doing a hotel bar crawl, Dukes in Mayfair is famous for its blindingly strong, ice-cold martinis and Vespers. Ian Fleming was a visitor and the Bond martini was invented there.

Close by is the world famous Berry Bros & Rudd, who've just revived their London Dry Gin, managing to recreate the authentic stuff with just one vial of their 1950's spirit. It's a bargain at £25; if you know Berry Bros, you know why their reputation is flawless – and why they've not one but two Royal warrants.

Upstairs at theatreland pub Mr Fogg’s Gin Parlour is Aunt Gertrude’s Salon, which houses more than 200 gins, 25 tonics and 40 botanicals. By their slightly tipsy count, that’s 9,000,000 combinations to try. Mr Fogg’s Gin Safari offers an hour-and-a-half of boozy tastings and there’s G&Tea for those who like cake with their cocktails.

In Soho, that great district of drunkenness, there is Golden Square gin palace Graphic. Circus-style lettering on the wall belies a very serious collection of gins — 305 bottles as of today — regular, knockout Gin Off competitions and monthly Gin Socials. On Great Chapel Street, the pleasingly old-fashioned London Gin Club has 350 different types and, with its French café-style seating and old tin adverts on the wall, is as charming as it is intoxicating. If you're committed to the area, try the King of Soho gin.

In the Square Mile, try the City of London Distilleries on Fleet Street, whose five offerings come in bottles stamped with the City crest, and all have won awards.

North

Last year the Old Bakery Gin opened near Palmers Green, proving that the gin market may well be impossible to overcrowd. Founder Ian Puddick began his bottlings after discovering his office once illegally churned out Mother’s Ruin. Several hangovers later, it’s now (legally) on sale at Fortnum’s.

One of the capital’s most interesting distilleries is in the former Kentish Town public loo that three years ago became the Ladies & Gents bar. Drinkers can watch its Highwayman Gin running through clear pipes tacked to the walls. The 16-litre still can’t do more than 12 bottles a day, and each batch tastes different, but we’ve never been disappointed.

Close by at Camden Lock, Mark Holdsworth and Half Hitch Gin have quite literally revived the spirit of the area. In 2014, Holdsworth opened Camden’s first distillery since the Sixties. Half Hitch is the colour of old paper; its base is black tea, pepper, hay and bergamot.

Further north is the Sacred Spirits company, which keeps itself busy with eight varieties of gin, two vodkas and even an English whisky. The Orris Gin smells faintly of Parma violets: childhood nostalgia at 80 proof.

East

East London doesn’t like to miss out on anything, and so it is with gin. Once home to the likes of Nicholson’s – since it’s revival, they’ve defected from Bow to Fulham – they’ve fewer distilleries than they did. Still, East London Liquor Company in Bow began distilling in 2014 and does the full deck of drinks with vodka, rum and whisky alongside its gin. Their higher strength, 45 per cent premium batches are gorgeous, but it’s the barrel aged gin that’s the standout. Both their bar and restaurant are worth travelling for; surely only people running on distillery fumes have this energy.

Over in Hackney Downs, 58 Gin is presently the pride of E8. Created by Aussie Mark Marmont, the 58 is nicely crisp and very smooth, perfect with lemon or grapefruit.

Not far from there is Martello Hall. The pizzas are good, it’s always busy and they distill their own gin. What else does a place need?

The Worship Street Whistling Shop in Shoreditch has a reputation as being good for any type of cocktails and its present Around the World Menu has, unsurprisingly, gins from across the globe. Still, it’s even better when you just tell the bartenders what you want and how.

South

Gin is big business south of the river too. Beefeater has called Lambeth home since 1908, and today more than 20 million litres of the stuff are produced in its Kennington distillery each year. Take a tour to discover the full grizzly history of gin in London — tickets cost £12 and include a G&T.

For a sample of a smaller batch, head to the Jensen’s distillery in Bermondsey, where you can enjoy cocktails and tours at weekends and take home a bottle of its Old Tom. On nearby Maltby Street Market you’ll find a bar run by Little Bird Gin, which is made by three friends in Peckham Rye using ginger and orange and more typical botanicals. 214 Bermondsey offers more than 50 bottles of juniper-laced craft, and Hide Bar up the road isn’t far behind, either.

Down in Battersea, Thames Distillers is one of London’s biggest operators, making gins for more than 60 brands. Owner Charles Maxwell is credited with bringing about the craft-gin movement by making distilling more accessible for small companies. There’s no bar, but head to The Four Thieves close by, which has its own micro-distillery.

West

Over in the West, a native spirit is born: Bimber Distillery’s new London gin has been handcrafted in small batches with every bottle distilled, packaged and labelled by hand at its site in Acton. It’s a traditional blend using ten botanicals and perfect for a citrusy gin and tonic with an earthy finish.

If you fancy seeing gin creation for yourself, 108 Brasserie has opened inside The Marylebone hotel, finally giving the Pleasure Gardens Distilling Company a home. There you can watch limited-edition batches of Marylebone Gin being made in a 50-litre copper pot and try it for yourself: the unique blend is an overproof spirit at 50.2 per cent and mixes 13 botanicals including camomile, grapefruit and lime flower.

For a total immersion of the senses, Notting Hill’s four-floor The Distillery has a curated list of 100 gins from around the world. Dingle Original Gin uses botanicals foraged from the west coast of Ireland, or if you can’t choose, sign up for Mac & Wild’s masterclass, where an expert will guide you through five of their favourite Scottish gins.

If you prefer your gin in a cocktail, Villa Mama’s in Chelsea does a delicious Bramble, made with Gin Mare, myrtle and lemon; Bombay Hustle in Mayfair serves a sweet Boom-Bai made with Bathtub Gin, Sicilian lemon tonic and cardamom bitters; and neighbourhood bar No 197 Chiswick Fire Station does a Redcurrant Cosmopolitan with Tanqueray, Cointreau, fresh redcurrants and guava.

And at Fortnum & Mason’s restaurant, 45 Jermyn Street, you can mix up your own: the gin “Rickie” cocktail, the No5, mixes Hepple Gin with strawberry, orange blossom and soda, served with the house poison on the side so you can top up your cocktail depending on how strong you like it.