Some of the items featured were kindly gifted.
Looking for a special gift for your gin-loving mother? Look no further. But goodness knows we’ve all had a tough year, so if you want to treat your best friend – or even yourself – instead your secret is safe with me!
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With the gin bubble showing no signs of bursting just yet, there’s no end of juniper-related gifts on the market this Christmas. Here’s just a few of my favourites for the gin-lover in your life, whether they be book-lovers, young at heart or more charitably minded.
Looking for some inspiration for Christmas gifts for the gin-lover in your life? Or just for your own wish list? If it’s simply spirits you’re after then check out my gin reviews and subscription guides. Or even last year’s festive favourites. But if you’re looking for something a little different then look no further, here’s my pick of the best books, prettiest jewellery and a few other gorgeous gifts for the gin-obsessed!
Charity gifts have been gaining in popularity since Oxfam’s first goat herds went up for grabs. Alongside this, we’ve seen an increase in brands that do good, and gin is no exception. There’s Ginerosity, the profits from which go towards helping young adults from disadvantaged backgrounds; One Gin, which funds water projects in the world’s poorest communities; and Graveney Gin, which gives 10% of its profits to conservation charity Gearing Up For Gorillas. But what if you’re looking for a gift that’s a little more generous or rather more tangible? Well, The National Trust for Scotland, the country’s largest conservation charity, have just launched the Love Gin Hamper and it could be just the thing you’re looking for for the gin-lover in your life.
Boozy advent calendars have to be the best addition to the Christmas festivities since a stuffed stocking first appeared at the foot of your bed! And, better still, 2017 has seen the line-up grow larger than ever. From rum and bourbon to absinthe and mezcal, there is something for every spirit lover. There’s even a Naga Chilli Vodka Escalation Advent Calendar with each of the twenty-four daily drams of vodka increasing in heat from 10,000 to 240,000 scovilles! But one of the newest additions to the market, and almost certainly the most beautiful, is That Boutique-y Gin Company‘s first ever Advent Calendar.
Anyone who’s watched Lost In Translation, in which Bill Murray plays an aging American movie star in Tokyo to film an advertisement for Suntory whisky, will be familiar with the wonderful world of Japanese whisky. Dekantā have been specialists in this field since 1985, and have been selling Japanese whiskies online to enthusiasts worldwide since 2015. But the gin revolution has recently hit the shores of Japan and, thanks to Dekantā, we can now partake in that too.
Gin-lovers, I find, are a friendly bunch and if there’s one thing we love almost as much as drinking gin it’s introducing our friends (and their friends!) to our latest discoveries and favourite tipples. So what better way to share the passion, and show the gin-lover in your life just how much you love them, than with a gorgeous gin gift box? Bottle in a Box offer just such a service and I was lucky enough to receive one of their beautiful boxes.
Gin is big in Spain. And so is the way they serve it. The instantly recognisable Gin Tonica is extravagantly served in a large fishbowl glass with generous mountains of ice and a tempting array of garnishes. Now one of Spain’s signature serves is making it big over here too with The Distillery’s Gin Tonica Bar launching last year. But if you can’t make it over to Spain, or indeed to West London, David T. Smith has just launched his own Gin Tonica book to help you make your very own Spanish cocktails at home.
Limited-edition gins were predicted to be big in 2017 and, just four months in, that certainly seems to be the case. However, producing and marketing such experimental gins can be an expensive gamble; one that, despite potentially offering great rewards, is often too risky for micro-distilleries to attempt single-handed. Increasingly, distilleries are turning to a third party to help produce their limited-edition gins by spreading their risk and providing a platform to market the end product.
So, Valentine’s Day. It’s all a bit rubbish really, isn’t it? As much as we all like to be swept off our feet occasionally, special occasions dictated by guilt and commercialisation aren’t actually all that special, are they? But happily (especially for those of us who suffer from FOMO), that’s where the gin industry comes riding gallantly to the rescue. Everything looks much rosier from the bottom of a decent G&T (even, in some cases, the gin itself), so pick up a cracking bottle for the gin-lover in your life (and if that happens to be you, well, make it a good one), holler “Bottoms Up!” and ring that bell! It’s Valentines’ Gins; Gin A Ding Ding!
Gin A Ding Ding 