The invention of continuous distillation in 1830 meant that a consistent pure grain spirit at a predetermined strength could be made. Gin distillers no longer had to mask the flavours of inferior spirits with sugar and strong spices and could turn their attention to a new kind of gin. It was called “dry gin” because it was clear and unsweetened and it was flavoured with more subtle aromatic botanicals like coriander, cassia, angelica and orris root. Because most of the distillers making this type of gin were based in London they bottled their products as “London Dry Gin” and the name stuck.

As the gin industry evolved, distillers started experimenting with adding flavours via infusion AFTER the spirit was distilled. Purists would argue that this was an easy way to add flavour and that a properly crafted gin would carry a host of flavours via distillation ONLY. And thus the term ‘London Dry’ came to describe a gin whose flavours were not infused afterwards but were purely from the distillation.

The term ‘London Dry’ is still synonymous the world over with ‘quality gin’. Holborn Gin is proud to be a London Dry Gin.