The best gins and tonic waters in search of an author to make the perfect Gin & Tonic


Let’s start by saying that ranking the best gins is a ridiculous and meaningless style exercise, each of us has a different palate and preferences, so we don’t want to crown any gin, but offer you a roundup of spirits to titillate your curiosity.
Having said that the ranking would also be unlikely for the price issue. There are top-notch bottles with which you can’t go wrong. Monkey 47 gin is so good that you could even mix it with gasoline and frozen orange juice and it would still be drinkable (joking). But we want to explore the undergrowth of the scents and flavors of all the most important and deserving gins. Even the strangest and most particular ones like the earthy Plymouth gins, which are not necessarily the noblest or expensive.
But what would gin be without its half, its bride: tonic water? So it is good to choose quality gin, but also pay attention to tonic water, which plays an important role, since such strong and elaborate products can cover the flavor of gin.
Hendrick’s and Henry Thomas tonic water
Hendrick’s Gin is perhaps one of the best for value for money. It is a fresh gin with a pyrotechnic nose, but delicate flavor. You will find amazing scents of roses, pepper, ginger, flowers, forest resin, and even spices, but they are declined with grace. They add arabesques of elegance without being obsessive. In the mouth, it is equally straight, sharp, but always precise and never aggressive. The matching tonic is quite clean, not expansive, but with a tenacious bitter taste. The Henry Tomas is uncomplicated, but with such a multifaceted gin, you just need a drop of bitterness.
Death’s Door Gin and Fentimans tonic water
Gin Primo with Romagna salt by Federico Lugaresi and Indi & Co tonic water
Panarea Island Gin and Mediterranean Tonic Water
Panarea Island Gin is born from the sun of the Aeolian Islands and manages to capture all the flavors and the sunny aromas of the Sicilian coast. It is a niche gin, it is emerging now, but finally, someone has managed to bring a ray of sunshine and joy into the resinous gin landscape. Of course, the classic juniper flavors are there, only that it winks a lot at the Sicilian terroir and the sea with savory flavors of ginger, cedar, citrus and a clean finish of white pepper. In the mouth, it is agile, sharp, but well defined: not too structured, but with good variety. Choose Mediterranean Tonic Water and harmony in the glass is assured. If you don’t find Panarea Island Gin, you can always refold on the classic Mare gin or Malfy.
Wenneker Elderflower Dry Gin and Fever-Tree Elderflower Tonic Water
The Botanist 22 and Monaco Tonic Water
The Botanist gin is one of the most extreme, pungent and herbaceous spirits you can use to make gin and tonic, but it is very particular. Produced with 22 botanicals that grow on the famous island of Islay, home of some of the most coveted and peated Scotch whiskey. Personally, I find it splendid, but it is not easy to approach, the scents it releases are an endless symphony: juniper, licorice, mint, camphor, flowers, pepper, roots, violets, chamomile. It is like taking a walk in an apothecary. In the mouth, it is full, spicy and moves gracefully without never stopping. Try it, but with a discreet tonic, almost shy like the Monaco tonic, good, with a delicate perlage.
VL92 gin combined with J.Gasco Bitter Dry tonic water
And after so many ethereal and graceful notes of flowers and small gardens of Eden, we move on to a good punch in the face. We have two rocky products with sharp edges that will cut your palate with quinine strokes. Vl 92 is a symphony of earthy scents with a thousand roots and some hints of lemon. The tonic water J. Gasco is direct, bitter and proud of it. If you like strong and neat flavors, this is a pair to try for an old-style gin and tonic.
Koval gin with Pure Tonic Cortese
Gin Tanqueray no. ten matched with the 1724 tonic water
Gin Tanqueray no. Ten is the most prized version of the classic Tanqueray, enhanced with chamomile and citrus fruit. A small touch that still manages to add finesse and depth to a solid, but very spartan gin, played on the classic English botanicals. In the mouth, it is scratchy, powerful and well-balanced. If we add one of the finest and tonic waters, we will be able to create an excellent gin and tonic. Very fresh, clear in its hints of wood, softened by a bitter taste of the 1724 tonic water, one of the least aggressive on the market.
Gin Aviation paired with Schweppes Premium Mixer Original Tonic
Gin Aviation is another purebred stallion: aromatic, powerful, yet elegant, with a fabulous persistence. Full of flowers, ginger, petals, tropical fruits, anise and freshness that gradually condenses into an irresistible spiciness crescendo. It is not the usual gin, there is not much juniper, it is not rough or sharp, but a kaleidoscope of perfumes. Throw in a tonic that smells of juniper and is not too strong like the Schweppes Premium Mixer Original Tonic to give a resinous touch.
Drumshanbo Gunpowder Gin paired with Q Tonica
The Barmaster Gin and East Imperial Burma tonic water
Two bold and very sharp products. The gin Barmaster is very ethereal and pungent in pure Bombay style. East Imperial Burma is also one of the most bitter and at the same time sugary, so it is a high voltage wedding. There is love, passion, a lot of joy, but coexistence is never easy.
Bulldog and Goldberg tonic water
A classic pairing for a rocky and spicy and very sharp gin tonic. The Bulldog is a rude gin, cheeky and very aromatic, but clean, with clear and not too varied, but very decisive aromas. In the mouth, it is full-bodied and fresh, perfect for mixing with the Goldberg tonic, one of the most citrusy, delicate and precise. This water tonic has a lot to offer: gentle touches, a sweet undertone and a powerful quinine punch that emerges in the finish.