The story of the UK's love affair with gin

The story of gin in the UK began by royal decree in 1689 when King William III and Queen Mary II, at war with France, wanted to stop the import of brandy. After failing to persuade The Worshipful Company of Distillers (the regulators of the distilling trade in London and the surrounding area at the time) to create a new British spirit using grain, the king then gave permission for members of the public to do so instead. As a result, within a few decades, gin production – and drinking – was everywhere; one in four houses in London was making it.

As gin consumption started to become unruly and its quality dubious, Parliament was keen to regulate its production. In 1751, the Gin Act was instated and small-scale productions of the spirit were banned. The mayhem of widespread, gin-induced drunkenness depicted in William Hogarth’s famous etching Gin Lane, which was produced as part of a campaign against the unregulated production of gin, soon became a thing of the past.

Centuries later, in 2008, the Gin Act was finally repealed and small-scale distilleries have flourished ever since. The Wine and Spirits Trade Association reported that last year, over 80 million bottles of gin were sold in the UK. And it’s not just us Brits that love it – the UK exported £672 million worth of gin all over the world in 2019. Now with the use of unusual botanicals, and with independent distilleries in beautiful locations, gin is king once again.