Most gin gift searches end in a gift pack or a hamper. This guide does the opposite: one good bottle, chosen for the person who will drink it. Every gin below is on our gin shelf, and each one comes with a note on who it suits, so you can match the bottle to the gin lover on your list rather than guess.
Quick picks
- Giselle Pavlova Gin at 37.5 per cent: a softer, sweeter gin from a Brisbane distillery, for the gin drinker who prefers that style to a sharp dry gin.
- Christian Drouin Le Gin: a Normandy gin made with a cider distillate, for the gin and tonic drinker who has tried the usual names.
- Hartshorn Sheep Whey Gin: a Tasmanian gin distilled from sheep's whey, for the curious drinker who likes a bottle with a story.
How to pick a gin for someone else
Search for gin presents and you will see "for her" and "for him" attached to nearly everything. The more useful question is what the person does with gin. Three things tell you most of what you need.
- What they mix it with. A gin and tonic drinker wants a gin that stays bright under tonic. A martini maker wants a gin with plenty of juniper, because there is nothing to hide behind. A Negroni maker wants a gin with enough weight to be heard over the bitter and the vermouth.
- Dry or fruity. Look at what is already open at their place. A shelf of classic dry gins points one way; a pink or fruit gin points the other.
- How curious they are. Some people want a better version of what they already drink. Others want something they have never seen before.
If the styles themselves are a puzzle, our guide to gin styles explained takes the labels apart. Every recommendation below is a single bottle, not a pack.
For a softer, sweeter style: Giselle Pavlova Gin
Giselle Pavlova Gin is a gin for the drinker who likes a sweeter style. Nosferatu Distillery, a Brisbane distillery with its cellar in Bowen Hills, named it after the ballerina Anna Pavlova, who famously danced the ballet Giselle. The distillery sells it as a gin, at 37.5 per cent alcohol, and says the Albanian juniper at its base makes it "unmistakably a gin".
The base gin is distilled using what the distillery calls its three stage orange infusion and distillation process. Vanilla, burnt sugar and double cream essence are infused after distillation, and the distillery itself talks about the gin's sweetness.
Nosferatu built its four course Ginner Party around food, one gin to a course, and Giselle is its dessert course gin. Its own suggestion is to pair it with pavlova or a fresh fruit tart, where fresh acidity balances the gin's sweetness. Who it suits: a gin drinker who prefers a softer, rounder, sweeter style to a sharp dry gin.
For the gin and tonic drinker
Normandy, from cider apples. Christian Drouin Le Gin comes from a family house that has made calvados in the Pays d'Auge for three generations. The gin is based on a neutral spirit flavoured with a cider distillate, made from more than 30 cider apple varieties and double distilled in small copper pot stills. Guillaume Drouin distils juniper and seven other aromatics separately and blends them. The producer names rose and lemon for delicacy, ginger, vanilla, cinnamon and almond for a smooth, spicy body, and cardamom for roundness. Who it suits: the gin and tonic drinker who likes a round gin with some apple fruit in it.
France, made for tonic. Generous Gin is a French gin that its makers set out to design around the gin and tonic. They distil in small pot stills and list juniper, citrus, mandarin, red pepper, jasmine and elderflower as its ingredients, with a floral nose and a finish of red pepper, citrus and juniper. Who it suits: someone whose usual drink is a G&T and who likes a floral one.
Sweden, the juniper traditionalist. Hernö Dry Gin at 40.5 per cent is an organic gin made from Swedish wheat spirit and water from the distillery's own well in Dala, near Härnösand, and Hernö says the gin is inspired by the nature of Sweden's High Coast. The botanicals are juniper, coriander, lemon peel, lingonberries, meadowsweet, black pepper, cassia and vanilla. Who it suits: the drinker who wants their gin to taste plainly of juniper.
Australia, native citrus. Archie Rose Dry Gin, which the distillery calls its Signature Dry Gin, is cold distilled, with eight individually distilled botanicals. Among them are sunrise lime and Geraldton waxflower from Western Australia, and Dorrigo pepperleaf from northern New South Wales. Who it suits: the person who wants an Australian gin with a familiar dry shape.
For the martini and Negroni maker
Navy strength. Hernö Navy Strength Gin is the same distilled gin as Hernö Dry Gin, diluted to 57 per cent instead of 40.5. Hernö says the difference is clear: bolder juniper, coriander and citrus, and a spicy, peppery finish. At that strength, pour standard measures and let the dilution from stirring over ice do its work. Who it suits: the martini obsessive who already owns a dry gin they like.
American dry. Bluecoat American Dry Gin is distilled in small batches in Philadelphia by Philadelphia Distilling, which says Bluecoat pioneered the American dry style. It uses organic botanicals, led by American citrus peels and what the distillery calls a softer, rounder juniper, with angelica and coriander. The distillery's own site features a martini, the All American Martini. Who it suits: a martini drinker who likes citrus more than pine.
Australian contemporary. Karu Affinity Gin at 44 per cent is Karu Distillery's Australian contemporary gin, made with Hawkesbury grown orange and pomegranate, Daintree vanilla, Australian almond and Macedonian juniper. Karu describes it as naturally semi sweet with warm spice, and its own cocktail list includes an Affinity Negroni. Who it suits: the home Negroni maker who wants an Australian gin that can carry vermouth and bitter.
Fruit and flower gins that are still gin
Pink gin turns up again and again in gin gift searches, and fruit gins vary more than any other style. All five of these are sold as gins by their makers, and each takes its fruit or flowers in a different direction.
Red berries from Normandy. Christian Drouin Le Gin Carmina is made the same way as Le Gin, each botanical macerated and redistilled separately, but with raspberry, blackcurrant, elderflower, vanilla, lemon and orange alongside the juniper and cider apples. The name is Latin for poems. Drouin suggests drinking it neat or in a gin and tonic with a slice of lemon and a raspberry. Who it suits: the fruit gin drinker who wants juniper and apple underneath the berries.
Blood orange from Brisbane. Nosferatu Blood Orange Gin at 40.4 per cent is Giselle's stablemate and the distillery's main course gin. It is distilled in a pot still with Albanian juniper, blood orange peel, navel oranges, dried orange peel, roasted fenugreek, coriander, cardamom, wormwood and angelica root. The distillery's serve is a balloon glass filled with ice, a quality tonic and a sliver of blood orange. Who it suits: someone who likes an orange forward gin and tonic.
Rosella from Victoria. Three Foxes Organic Rosella Gin is made at the Three Foxes distillery in Heidelberg West, Victoria, which describes it as bright, floral and refreshing. Its own serves are a gin and tonic of 30 ml gin and 90 ml tonic with a slice of orange, and a Hibiscus Negroni of 30 ml each of the gin, Three Foxes Triple Bitter and rosso vermouth, garnished with orange peel. Who it suits: the floral gin drinker, and the Negroni maker who would like to try a twist on it.
Strawberry from Kagoshima. Komasa Ichigo Gin is made by Komasa Jyozo in Hioki, Kagoshima, which calls it a honkaku shochu gin. Alongside juniper, it uses strawberries, raspberries, blueberries and basil, and the producer describes the aroma of strawberries with a long herbal finish. Komasa's own serve is the Ichigo Soda: 30 ml of the gin and 120 ml of soda water, poured over ice and stirred lightly. Who it suits: the pink gin fan who also loves Japanese food and drink. For more Japanese bottles, see our sake and Japanese gifts guide.
Organic and pink. Antipodes Pink Gin is a certified organic gin from The Antipodes Gin Co, which says its gin is made on Wurundjeri country. The producer describes chamomile flowers, tart Kakadu plum and citrus, and calls it happy to mix. Who it suits: someone who wants pink gin and cares about organic certification.
The story bottle: Hartshorn Sheep Whey Gin
Hartshorn Sheep Whey Gin starts where most gins do not: with sheep's whey from cheesemaking. Hartshorn Distillery shares land in Tasmania with Grandvewe Cheeses, run by the same family, and began distilling whey that would otherwise be thrown out. Its gin pairs juniper with Australian native botanicals including lemon myrtle, anise myrtle, wattleseed and Tasmanian pepper leaf, all vapour infused, and the distillery describes a delicate bouquet of petals, citrus and a hint of fresh cut hay. Hartshorn hand paints and signs its bottles, so each one looks the part on a shelf.
Who it suits: the curious gin drinker, the cheese lover, or anyone who has been to Tasmania and talks about it.
Serving and gifting notes
A gin gift goes further with a note on how to drink it. Most bottles here have a producer's serve, quoted above, and we have given measures where the producer does. If the person you are buying for mixes more than they sip, our Christmas cocktails guide has summer drinks built from bottles on our shelves, and our Hugo Spritz guide covers the elderflower spritz. For people who drink something other than gin, the spirits gift guide by personality matches bottles to the person, and our whisky for Christmas guide does the same for whisky.
Questions about timing are answered on our shipping policy page.
Where to start
- For a softer, sweeter gin: Giselle Pavlova Gin.
- For a gin and tonic drinker: Christian Drouin Le Gin or Generous Gin.
- For the juniper traditionalist: Hernö Dry Gin.
- For the martini maker: Hernö Navy Strength Gin or Bluecoat American Dry Gin.
- For the Negroni maker: Karu Affinity Gin or Three Foxes Organic Rosella Gin.
- For the pink gin fan: Christian Drouin Le Gin Carmina, Komasa Ichigo Gin or Antipodes Pink Gin.
- For an Australian gin with a familiar shape: Archie Rose Dry Gin.
- For a citrus gin and tonic: Nosferatu Blood Orange Gin.
- For the curious: Hartshorn Sheep Whey Gin.
The full range sits on our gin page, and we deliver to every Australian state and the ACT.