It's GIN O'Clock!

Welcome to The Royal Oak Gin List

Below are a selection of gins we have sold here at The Oak, we always try and keep at least 15 good gins available.

Synonymous with British culture, gin is now enjoyed worldwide and is most commonly drunk in a Gin and Tonic or a Martini. In essence, gin is a spirit with a predominant flavour of juniper berries, which account for its tangy, crispness and refreshing attributes.

There are various styles of gin with London Dry Gin being the most popular - Tanqueray and Beefeater are both notable London Dry Gins. Whilst Juniper must be the dominant flavour, other botanicals can be used to make gin, and there is no limit to what can be used – these often include anise, liquorice root, saffron, cinnamon, cassia bark and orris root. The term “gin” might derive from either the Dutch “jenever” or the French “genièvre” – both of which mean “juniper”.

Gin can be made with any neutral spirit, so production methods can vary greatly. It is how the spirit is flavoured that marks the difference between the various styles.

The two principal styles are Distilled Gin and Compound Gin. Distilled Gin is made by re-distilling neutral spirit with the botanicals, whereas compound gin is made by simply steeping spirit in botanicals without re-distillation.

Another variant involves distilling spirit through a tray, or basket of botanicals.

Dutch gin, known as jenever or genever, is a distinctive style of gin, which must be at least partly distilled from barley malt in a pot still. The result is a gin which bares marked semblance to whisky.

Did you know?... ...The Gin and Tonic became a popular means of taking quinine (present in cinchona bark used to make tonic) to prevent malaria.

All prices in this brochure are per 25ml measure.

Sipsmith London Dry Gin 41.6% (London)

Produced in the workshop previously used by the late, great Michael Jackson (whisky writer, not Moonwalker), this super-small-batch artisanal Gin is flavoured with restraint, making it easier for the natural quality of the spirit to shine through. Distilled in a marvellously compact pot still / column still combo, named Prudence, Sipsmith epitomises distilling on a truly artisanal scale. At the time of her installation, Prudence was the first copper pot still to be brought to life in London for over 200 years.

Deaths Door Gin 47% (Washington Island, USA)

Death's Door gin is a fine American gin made with organic red winter wheat from Washington Island, Wisconsin. Bottled at higher strength than your average gin, this makes a great martini.
Bombay Sapphire 40% (Hampshire)

One of the best known and most delicately perfumed gins in the world, Bombay Sapphire makes an excellent Martini, and is great as a base for a Gin and Tonic.

Gordon’s London Dry Gin 37.5% (London)

An absolute classic dry gin, Gordon's is one of the best selling spirits in the world, it was first created in 1769, and the recipe hasn't changed since! This is a triple-distilled gin flavoured with juniper berries, coriander, angelica, and one other botanical.

The actual recipe is only known to a dozen people!

Aviation Gin 42% (Portland USA)

Batch distilled gin from America, Aviation Gin offers a Dutch style and it is distilled from rye and flavoured with Juniper, Lavender, Anise, Sarsaparilla, Orange peel and Cardamom.

Fifty Pounds Gin 43.5% (London)

Fifty Pounds gin is distilled in small quantities, and in single batches. The name comes from the time of George II and the 1736 Gin Act, when a 50 pound tax was levied on those wishing to produce and sell gin. Only two distilleries agreed to pay the tax!

South Bank London Dry Gin 37.5% (London)

A London Dry Gin named for the South Bank. This is great value for money.

William Chase Gin 48% (Herefordshire)

An English gin, distilled in Herefordshire, from the same company that make Chase potato vodka. This is distilled from organic apples, and has a lovely crisp, fruity flavour.

Blackwood’s Vintage Dry Gin 40% (Shetland)

An incredible vintage dry gin distilled in the Shetland islands, this is distilled using a variety of delicious local botanicals including wild water mint, sea pink, juniper, meadow sweet, coriander, violets and bog myrtle (the least appealingly-named botanical there is).

Brecon Special Reserve Gin 40% (Pendreyn)

A Welsh gin made at the famous whisky distillery, Penderyn. This is flavoured with juniper from Macedonia, orange peel from Spain, Chinese cassia bark, Sri Lankan liquorice, Madagascan cinnamon, French angelica root, Russian coriander, Indian nutmeg, Spanish lemon peel and Italian orris root. Very tasty indeed.

Hendrick’s Gin 41.4% (Scotland)

Quirky producer Hendricks make their pot-still distilled gin using cucumber as one of the primary botanicals. This makes for a unique, tasty and incredibly refreshing gin.

Plymouth Gin 41.2% (Plymouth)

Plymouth gin can only be made in Plymouth. This is a pot-still gin, voted the Best Gin in BBC Good Food Magazine.

Tanqueray London Dry Gin 43.1% (London)

The lower strength version of Tanqueray Export Strength. It boasts a phenomenally fruity, spicy palate with big zesty, citrussy top notes which make this gin the perfect all-rounder.

Gordon’s Crisp Cucumber Gin 37.5% (London)

This superbly crisp, aromatic cucumber-flavoured gin was launched by Gordon's in 2013. It is based on Gordon's classic London Dry Gin and is flavoured naturally with cucumber. The result is something akin to Hendrick's gin, and it works very well in Gin and Tonics!

Warner Edwards Harrington Gin 44% (Northants)

Produced on the Falls Farm in Northamptonshire by Warner Edwards, Harrington Dry is a delicious gin. It's based on barley spirit which is flavoured with eleven botanicals sourced from farms in Wales and England. These include juniper, elderflower and coriander.

Tanqueray No. Ten Gin 47.3% (London)

An incredible small-batch London dry gin made in pot-still number 10. Tanqueray Number 10 is citrussy and full bodied.

Brockmans Premium Gin 40% (London)

Delicious gin from Brockmans. This is made with Bulgarian coriander, blueberries and blackberries as well as bittersweet Valencia orange peels. The result is well balanced and full of flavour.

Martin Miller’s Gin 40% (London)

Martin Miller's gin is distilled in pot-stills and shipped to Iceland, where it is mixed with Icelandic spring water. It is flavoured with Tuscan juniper, cassia bark, angelica, Florentine orris, coriander, Seville citrus peel, nutmeg, cinnamon and liquorice root.

Leopold’s American Small Batch Gin 40% (Denver)

Small-batch American gin, made using "hand-zested American pummelos". They only make 50 cases of this a year, so it really is small batch.

Sloane’s Original Dry Gin 40% (Netherlands)

A lovely little dry gin made by Sloane's in the Netherlands. It is named after the 18th century botanist Sir Hans Sloane, who is said to have discovered many of the plants used to flavour gins today!

Beefeater 24 London Dry Gin 45% (London)

A more recent addition to the Beefeater range. When creating Beefeater 24, Desmond Payne knew he had to come up with something totally different for his selection of botanicals. He used tea!

The 12 ingredients used are Japanese Sencha Tea, Chinese green tea and then Seville orange peel, grapefruit peel, lemon peel, juniper, coriander seed, liquorice, angelica root, almond and orris root. It is called Beefeater 24 because the botanicals are steeped in the spirit for a full 24 hours. The result is a fragrant gin with good sweetness.

Caorunn Small Batch Scottish Gin 41.8% (Cromdale)

A small-batch Scottish gin from the Balmenach distillery in Speyside. Caorunn (pronounced ka-roon), is made with a combination of traditional and handpicked botanicals including rowan berry, heather, coul blush apple and dandelion.Try this gin with a slice of red apple.

Bulldog London Dry Gin 40% (London)

A delicious English gin made with poppy, dragon eye, lotus leaves, citrus, almond, lavender and various other botanicals (12 in total). This is four times distilled in copper pot-stills, and Bulldog had the highest rating ever received by a gin from Wine Enthusiast Magazine. It was also voted a Top 50 spirit!

Adnams Copper House Gin 48% (Southwold)

Made with six carefully chosen botanicals, Adnams Distilled Gin is elegant and approachable, classically charged with Juniper and rich with floral and citrus notes. It’s a warm and welcoming introduction to Adnams gin.

Larios 12 Premium Gin 40% (Madrid, Spain)

A stunning Spanish gin made using 12 botanicals which are distilled five times. Larios 12 is made with botanicals including wild juniper, nutmeg, angelica root, coriander, Mediterranean lemon, orange, tangerine, mandarin, clementine, grapefruit, lime and orange blossom.

Hofland Gin 35% (Netherlands)

This imported gin is dry, tasty and refreshing with a slightly sweet aftertaste.

Ancient Mariner London Cut Dry Gin 50% (Helensburgh)

The Ancient Mariner's London Dry Gin was chosen from more than 25 different recipes, created with 100% British grains and distilled in London. It is named, of course, for Coleridge's famous poem 'The Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner'.

Cold River Traditional Gin 47% (Maine, USA)

Cold River Gin is a beautifully crisp, tangy, fruity quaff from the folks over at Maine Distilleries. This is made with potato-based spirit, and is flavoured with traditional favourites like coriander, lemon peel, orris root and cardamom, which are steeped for a few hours prior to distillation. Great stuff!

Beefeater London Dry Gin 40% (London)

Beefeater London Dry Gin was first made in 1820 by James Burroughs. It is still, to this day, made to the same recipe. Great in a Martini, this is a spiced, fruity gin.

Boodles British London Dry Gin 40% (London)

This London Dry Gin, repackaged and rejuvenated under new ownership in 2013, takes its name from Boodle's Gentleman’s Club in St. James's, London and is now produced at the Greenalls distillery.

Famous members of Boodle's Gentleman’s Club included former Prime Minister Winston Churchill and James Bond author Ian Fleming, which of course makes Boodles an obvious choice for a Vesper.

Whitley Neill Handcrafted Dry Gin 42% (Liverpool)

Superb quality, soft London Dry Gin, Whitley Neill is made by an independent distillery with 4 generations of family heritage. They base this on African botanicals, including the Baobab Tree and Physalis. The result is a fantastic gin, made in a century old (literally) antique copper pot still. This was awarded a Double Gold at the 2007 San Francisco World Spirits Competition, and Gold medals at the International Wine and Spirits Competition and the Chicago Beverage Testing Institute (who awarded it a sterling 91 points). Whitley Neill's motto is 'Inspired by Africa, Made in England'.

Portobello Road No.171 Gin 42% (London)

This gin was released by the award-winning Notting Hill bar, Portobello Star, home of the Ginstitute. This is a place where one can learn an awful lot about gin, so you would expect Portobello Road No. 171 to be rather good, and indeed it is. It's an old-style London Dry Gin, containing traditional botanicals and spices, that harks back to the gins of yesteryear.

The Botanist Islay Dry Gin 46% (Islay, Scotland)

Created at the Bruichladdich distillery, this superb Islay gin is distilled in the 'Ugly Betty' still described as "an oversized upside-down dustbin made of copper" by Tom Morton. Perhaps the best looking packaging we've ever seen for a gin - it's not all style and no substance either. This is a world-class gin, at a proper abv. A huge 31 botanicals go into The Botanist, including 22 native to Islay (the Juniper used is wild Islay Juniper). The full list of botanicals is as follows: angelica root, apple mint, birch leaves, bog myrtle leaves, cassia bark, chamomile, cinnamon bark, coriander seed, creeping thistle flowers, elder flowers, gorse flowers, heather flowers, hawthorn flowers, juniper berries, lady's bedstraw flowers, lemon balm, lemon peel, liquorice root, meadow sweet, orange peel, orris root, peppermint leaves, mugwort leaves, red clover flowers,tansy, thyme leaves, water mint leaves, white clover, wood sage leaves. Phew!

Chilton Damson Gin 27% (Shropshire)

Produced from locally sourced Shropshire prune damsons. They are soaked in Greenalls Gin for 6 months. A rich plummy flavoured liqueur. Very fruity but not too sweet. Great in a hip flask, after dinner, or as a mixer.

Gabriel Boudier Saffron Gin 40% (Dijon, France)

French colonial recipe of eight natural botanicals rediscovered by France's leadingmicro-distiller Gabriel Boudier of Dijon. Gabriel Boudier is a leading micro-distiller in Dijon Francewith a reputation for fine spirits since 1874.

Saffron Gin is a unique recipe discovered in the archives of France's colonial past when England and France both claimed India as their jewel and gin rich in exotic botanicals was the fashion.

This handcrafted, small-batch pot distilled gin is made from the finest natural botanicals; in addition to the Saffron which gives a delicately spicy character, the recipe has juniper, coriander, lemon, orange peel, angelica seeds, iris and fennel, creating one of the most complex and memorable gins distilled today.

Enjoy Saffron Gin on the rocks or with Tonic.

Bathtub Gin 43.3% (East Sussex)

An extraordinary award-winning gin, produced by the enigmatic Professor Cornelius Ampleforth. Made using the traditional method of Cold Compounding (or in layman’s terms – infusing). Very high quality copper pot-still spirit is infused with ingredients including juniper, orange peel, coriander, cinnamon, cloves and cardamom.

This gin is made in ultra-small batches of only 30-60 bottles at a time, and the length of the compounding period is controlled entirely by periodic sampling.

The result is an extraordinary gin, lightly tinted by the botanicals, and with a flavour which is both bold, and perfumed all at once. Sure to be a hit with amateur and professional mixologists alike.

Packaged using brown paper, string and wax, the presentation puts us in mind of a Victorian apothecary!

Chase Seville Orange Gin 40% (Herefordshire)

Chase is based in Herefordshire and produce a variety of gins and vodkas using a spirit distilled from apples. Unsurprisingly this bottle of gin has a fairly hefty whack of zesty seville oranges thanks to a re-distillation through the zest of these citrus fruits.

G’Vine Nouaison Gin 43.9% (France)

A limited edition French gin made using batch distillation in a copper pot still before flavouring. This is distilled from the Ugni Blanc grape (a favourite variety used in Cognac production) and is flavoured with a number of botanicals including grape flowers.

Hoxton Gin 43% (France)

A fresh and fruity gin with an impressive array of ethically-sourced ingredients. Coconut, grapefruit, juniper, iris, tarragon and ginger are macerated for 5 days before a single distillation in 150 year old copper pot stills to obtain the perfect concentration for blending with grain spirit. Hoxton Gin is then filtered and rested in steel tanks for two months, a longer than usual process which helps integrate the myriad flavours.

Iceberg London Dry Gin 40% (Canada)

A London Dry Gin made in Canada? Using actual iceberg? Mmm... iceberg. Traditional botanicals are used such as orange peel, angelica, orris root.

Ish London Dry Gin 41% (London)

A beautiful quintuple-distilled made in the centre of London. This is made with 12 botanicals as well as good quality grain spirit. Ish London Dry Gin is great in a Martini!

Lighthouse Gin 42% (New Zealand)

A crisp, rich batch-distilled New Zealand gin, Lighthouse is made with nine botanicals which are distilled in a copper still. The result is a herbal, citrussy, spicy spirit...

Masons Dry Yorkshire Gin 42% (Bedale, N. Yorks)

A London Dry Gin from God's Own County! Masons use Harrogate Spring Water for their gins along with juniper, a proportion of which is from their own bushes, and a combination of secret botanicals including citrus.

Produced in small batches, each bottle has hand-written batch and bottle numbers.

Monkey 47 Dry Gin 47% (Black Forest, Germany)

An unusual gin from the Black Forest in Germany, Monkey 47 contains a unique ingredient. No, not that! Cranberries! The 47 comes from the number of botanicals that go into this unique gin, and the fact it's bottled at a healthy 47%.

This plethora of ingredients has paid off, and in 2011 Monkey 47 won the World Spirits Award Gold in the Gin category and Gold for Best in Class for the Gin Worldwide at the International Wine and Spirits Competition London. Not bad!

Tottering Sloe Gin 27% (Buckingham)

An incredible sloe gin created by Foxdenton especially for Lord Tottering's shooting parties. This is a wonderful sloe gin best served on hot summer afternoons with chilled champagne.
Spirit of Hven Organic Gin 40% (Hven, Sweden)

A top quality, handcrafted gin from the Swedish island of Hven, situated in the Öresund Strait between Denmark and Sweden. It is an organic wheat gin that is both pot distilled and oak matured with botanicals such as juniper, grains of paradise, citrus, Sichuan pepper, aniseed, and guinea pepper. The oak maturation gives this an oily and smooth mouthfeel lending itself well for everything from cocktails to cooking.

In fact, Spirit of Hven Organic Gin is the only gin served at Copenhagen's Noma, the Best Restaurant in the World (Restaurant Magazine 2010, 2011 & 2012).

The Spectator Gin 42.4% (Tunbridge Wells)

This gin was crafted to a special recipe, created for readers of The Spectator. They’ve taken a beautiful, intense, perfumed juniper-infused spirit, with lashings of spice and pepper notes, and added the very finest Earl Grey Tea extract, as well as a citrussy, sweet Lemon Balm extract. The result is delectable and complex, and works wonders in all manner of drinks, from Gin & Tonics to sublime Dry Martinis!