Does London Dry Gin Have to be From London?

London: The original home of London dry gin, but not the only place it can be made. (Photo: Chait Goli/Pexels)

London dry is easily one of the most recognizable gin types. With iconic London dry brands like Bombay Sapphire, Tanqueray, Beefeater’s and Sipsmith dominating the gin market, it’s hard to not associate all of gin with this one style.

While these top gin brands do happen to find a home in the United Kingdom, not every London dry gin is made in London.

A Brief History of London Dry

London dry gin did, of course, originate in London. After Dutch genever took hold of the U.K., the spirit developed from a heavy malted wine to the fashionably sweetened Old Tom. Due to the increasing popularity of the juniper-based booze propelled by the Gin Craze of the 18th century, gin styles evolved to favor the clear, unsweetened London dry we know today.

The Technicalities

According to the E.U. Definitions of Categories of Alcoholic Beverages, London dry gin is a type of distilled gin that is:

(i) obtained exclusively from ethyl alcohol of agricultural origin, with a maximum methanol content of
5 grams per hectolitre of 100 % vol. alcohol, whose flavour is introduced exclusively through the redistillation in traditional stills of ethyl alcohol in the presence of all the natural plant materials used,
(ii) the resultant distillate of which contains at least 70 % alcohol by vol.,
(iii) where any further ethyl alcohol of agricultural origin is added it must be consistent with the characteristics
listed in Annex I(1), but with a maximum methanol content of 5 grams per hectolitre of 100 % vol.
alcohol,
(iv) which does not contain added sweetening exceeding 0,1 gram of sugars per litre of the final product nor
colorants,
(v) which does not contain any other added ingredients other than water.
(b) The minimum alcoholic strength by volume of London gin shall be 37,5 %.
(c) The term London gin may be supplemented by the term ‘dry’.

While this list may look like a lot, it only details the specifics of ABV and the barring of colorants and more than 0.1 grams of sugar per liter. Other than these regulations, no mention of a geographical indication is made.

American-made gin has one minor distinction in that it must be bottled at a minimum of 40% ABV. This leads to ABV variations of popular gin brands. For example, the 37.5% ABV bottling of Gilbey’s London Dry Gin and the 40% version sold in the United States.

London Dry Gins Not From London

Since London dry is defined by a distillation process and not a location, distilleries all over the world make their own London dry gins.

Here are some notable London dry gins made anywhere but London:

• Gordon’s London Dry Gin, originally from London, but currently made in Scotland and Canada
• No. 3 London Dry Gin, made in the Netherlands
• Member’s Mark London Dry Gin, made in the United States
• Luxardo London Dry Gin, made in Italy
• Darnley’s View London Dry Gin, made in Scotland

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