Gin guide: definitions, types and raw materials

Interest in gin, also driven by continuous new launches of the industry, it grows more and more. However, often, also due to the large number of existing products, there is a tendency to get a little confused. In today's article I will try to provide answers to questions such as: what is it gin? How many types are there? What are they?

The official classification of gins

In Europe, the regulatory reference regarding gin is European Regulation 110 of 2008 and its subsequent modification, after a few months, which introduced new specifications on the amount of sugar present in the distillate. In fact, in the first version, the term Dry could only be used for the London Dry type by virtue of the maximum presence of 0.1 grams per liter of sugar. Later, this wording was extended to also to distillates and gin compounds, to somehow protect all the new fruit-flavored gins, especially the Spanish ones, which had made gin a product very similar to a liqueur. European regulations distinguish between three types of gin: London Dry Gin, Distilled Gin and Gin (which corresponds to the type of Compound Gin).

1) London Dry Gin< /h3>

It is the result of the distillation of ethyl alcohol macerated with traditional stills or in steam current (carter basket head) in the presence of juniper. The distillate obtained cannot exceed 70% alcohol at the end of the distillation cycle. The grams hectoliter of methyl must not exceed 5 grams hectoliter. But using already rectified alcohol in the column for infusion this is never a problem. The law does not mention the presence of other mandatory plants and therefore there is no disciplinary sanction that imposes the presence of certain botanical species. Therefore, the belief that there must be at least seven obligatory plants in gin is incorrect. This false rumor arose due to the fact that most of the London Dry had few aromatic plants. The alcoholic strength of the final product for sale must be at least equal to 37.5 and normally the maximum strength is 57. By law it is not possible to add other aromatic substances and the use of pure alcohol to dilute the aromatic alcoholate or water to reach the desired alcoholic strength. Many value gins use both possibilities, while premium gins use only the second.

2) Distilled gin

It is essentially a London Dry Gin to which other substances can be added aromatics at the end of distillation. So nation the modern gin market, blocked by a technical limit that prevented the use of flowers, vegetables or delicate aromas and which today can be added by macerating them in the gin or in the form of alcoholates obtained with rotary evaporator stills. The smaller amount of product necessary to flavor and personalize the gins makes it possible to use these tools, whose capacity is usually, as already mentioned, very low. This process has given life to very perfumed and colorful gins: from the green of basil to the pink of raspberries or rhubarb, impossible to obtain with the London production process. In fact, with distillation it is impossible to extract the colors from the natural substances used, since the molecules responsible for the colors are too heavy to evaporate.

3) Gin (Compound Gin)

It is the infamous bathtub gin or bathtub gin, as I called her in the times of prohibition. It was and is obtained by flavoring pure alcohol, generally with alcoholates produced by third parties. The process is a simple assembly, a composite, hence the name, which is obtained cold. There is no distillation as the alcoholates of the individual spices and herbs are simply mixed together. here Nor does anything prevent adding macerates, aromatic plants, flowers or fruits to the recipe, which is why the compounds usually have color and light glazes. The specification also includes the Dutch Jenever, the German Steinhager and the Granjenever of the French and Belgian schools, in addition to other specialties from the Ardennes, which are assimilated to gin, as distillates flavored with juniper, but very different, in terms of aroma, of a gin, and therefore we will not analyze it.

Other unregulated types of gin

Plymouth

It is the gin that has been produced since 1793 in the town of the same name in the southwest from England. Until 2016, it was one of the three gins, along with Mahon Xoriguer and Vilnius gin, to have the Igt name. With the entry into force of European regulation 110 of 2008, gin is produced with the London Dry technique and in its botanical composition it has seven plants (hence perhaps the belief, also given the historicity of the recipe), where the freshness and citrus fruits due to cardamom, orange peel and lemon.

Old Tom

It is the Victorian gin, the first version, the historical one, which According to tradition it has a delicate sweet tendency. In the past it was comparable, in terms of production style, to a London Dry in which the botanical profile was sweetened with the presence of licorice and fennel seeds, while today it can be sweeten, some even with 4% sugar, a later practice. which makes it of this classification.

Sloe Gin

It is not a gin but a liqueur. English families offered it as a welcome liquor or used it as a digestive and tonic. It was and is obtained from a classic London Dry to which a good amount of wild plums, with marked acidity, and sugar were added. Each family had their own secret recipe, about the amount of fruit, sugar to add and maybe some other secret spice. Today it is produced by many distilleries that have revived this practically forgotten classic.

Geneva Contemporary Style

This wording is found in new generation products that have developed products , from the classic aromatic plants of gin, which are usually iris, coriander, cardamom, angelica, cassia and citrus peel. These products are usually composed of a large number of plants, some unusual, which make them more like perfumes than gins, where the pungent smell of juniper usually acts as an adjuvant element. They are especially suitable for beginners who perhaps did not like the excessively balsamic notes of traditional gins and usually have a story-telling, made of abstract and fashionable reasoning. Obviously, rotary evaporation and vacuum are usually used for its preparation.

Traditional Style Gin

It is a classic gin, where the aroma of juniper predominates. Especially in the last period, gins were born that declared the exclusive use of juniper berries as a flavoring, referring to the first tradition of diuretics from the mid-18th century or demonstrating quantities of these berries in proportion to the other ingredients. Obviously they are obtained only with a hot still.

British London Dry

While “London Dry” It is a production style and not a GI. The British coined this definition to differentiate themselves from the London Dry around the world, emphasizing their productive school. Cask Gin is a gin that has been in barrels, normally for a few months, a maximum of a year, so it could be defined as a reserve. Common practice, since historically there was no other transportation system than the barrel, but it has become quite rare in modern times with the arrival of steel. These gins tend to be rounder and less sharp on the nose, thanks to the contribution of wood tannins that give them delicate perceptions of sweet spices.

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