After dalliances with bourbon and rum, gin is fast becoming the drink du jour of the young and fashionable.

As ever, this started as a London thing, darling! Take a saunter in the City and the oh-so fashionable East End, and you will find gin bars aplenty, many of them touting the ‘local’ gin of their borough. You see, micro-distilleries are popping up here, there and everywhere. Even in Scotland!

Gin is a modest spirit. If done well, it is quite simple to produce in comparison with, say, other premium spirits that we can produce with ease in the UK. Unlike vodka and whisky, gin does not require repeated distillation or years stored in oak. All you need is the right kit and contents, a bit of know-how, and the go-ahead from HMRC. Some ‘boutique’ gins are literally made (legally) in people’s kitchens and bathrooms. No joke.

Gin is so easy to make that it became something of a social pariah in the 18th and 19th centuries, when it developed a reputation as a cheap and vile spirit, and a scourge on society of sorts. Since, it has been culturally gendered as ‘woman’s drink’, and today it still gets referred to as ‘mother’s ruin’. People will still claim that gin makes them sad – however, I think this is derived from historic reputation, and has more than a touch of the psychosomatic to it...

I was happy to hear that this Father’s day, lots of shoppers were looking out gin for dads. “Good”, I say – it’s time we stopped spoiling fathers and started ruining them. Boom-boom.

We make some very decent gins here in Scotland too, many of them big-brands these days, such as the famous Hendrick’s Gin (all gins listed here are widely available, and prices vary). This was arguably the brand that started the recent gin revival, and got the attention of the London hipster crowd (have you seen how many moustaches they use in their advertising?). They certainly popularised the trend of eschewing the traditional slice of lime in favour of something more ‘out there’, in their case, a slice of cucumber to compliment the fresh and delicate vegetal side of the gin.

A few whisky distilleries have started to distil gin in their down-time from whisky (and to make a slightly quicker buck), and the results have been encouraging. A notable star is Caorunn Gin, from the Balmenach distillery. It’s another nice, fresh gin, but with a richer body and a touch more fruit than the Hendricks. They suggest a slice of apple in your gin and tonic (but I am getting distinctive aromas of ‘gimmick’...). It comes in a nifty hexagonal bottle too!

If you are up for something that’s a little more indulgent of your sweet tooth, try Edinburgh Raspberry Gin. It uses two of the country’s greatest resources – booze and berries – to great effect. It’s like a sloe gin, but is made using juicy Perthshire raspberries instead. This beautiful, ruby-coloured gin liqueur is perfect for mixing, but gentle and sweet enough to have neat or over ice!

A final note; as gin is traditionally mixed with tonic, I very, very strongly advise that you get a decent tonic for a decent gin, rather than polluting it with Schweppes. This is very important, and if you don’t believe me, try a tonic water from Fever Tree (brilliant stuff - and their low-calorie tonic is nice too), Fentiman’s or Bottle Green. They’re only slightly dearer than the brand leaders, but so much better. You’ll find it very hard to mix your beautiful gin with Schweppes ever again.

Reading Between the Wines: everything's turned out rose

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