Gin starts with neutral spirit flavored by botanicals, and juniper has to be the loudest one in the room. Take juniper out and you've got vodka with herbs. Keep it in and the rest is a recipe: coriander, citrus peel, angelica, orris, cardamom, whatever the distiller decides.
The styles below are different recipes for the same idea.
Mid-shelf: Sipsmith, Fords (specifically built for cocktails), Tanqueray No. Ten (citrus-leaning).
Top-shelf London Dry: Beefeater 24, Sipsmith VJOP (a juniper-loud Martini-killer).
Plymouth
Made only in Plymouth, England, by one distillery. It used to have protected geographic status; that lapsed in 2015. In practice, one distillery still defines the style. It sits between London Dry and New Western.
Flavor: softer juniper, earthier, slightly sweeter, more root and angelica. Less aggressive than Tanqueray. Drinks rounder.
Use it in: anywhere London Dry feels too sharp — Gimlet is the classic match. Excellent in Negroni.
What to buy: there's only one — Plymouth Gin. The Navy Strength version (57%) is also worth owning if you make a lot of gin cocktails.
Old Tom
The historical bridge between malty Genever and bone-dry London. Slightly sweetened (sometimes barrel-aged), softer, maltier than London Dry.
Flavor: rounded, lightly sweet, often a touch of barrel character. Less aggressive juniper.
Use it in:Tom Collins (where Old Tom historically makes sense), Martinez, any pre-Prohibition recipe that calls for "gin" and tastes weird with London Dry.
What to buy: Hayman's Old Tom, Ransom Old Tom (barrel-aged, developed with David Wondrich).
Genever
The granddaddy. Dutch in origin, made from a malt-wine base (think distilled beer mash) redistilled with juniper. Closer to a young whiskey with juniper than to modern gin.
Flavor: malty, grain-forward, juniper present but not dominant. Two main styles:
Oude (old) — at least 15% malt wine, traditional, oily. The good stuff.
Jonge (young) — leaner, more neutral, post-WWII style. Skip unless you have a recipe specifically calling for it.
Use it in: classic genever cocktails (Improved Holland Gin Cocktail, Holland House). Genuinely excellent neat or on the rocks.
What to buy: Bols Genever (oude), Old Duff Genever, Boomsma Oude. None are easy to find outside cocktail-focused stores.
Contemporary / New Western
Everything from about 2000 onward that pulls juniper back and pushes other botanicals forward — citrus, cucumber, florals, tea, whatever.
Flavor: all over the map. Hendrick's leans cucumber and rose. Monkey 47 piles in 47 botanicals. St. George Botanivore is an herb garden in a glass.
Use it in:Gin & Tonic is the home base — these gins were designed to play with tonic. Highballs generally. Use with care in classics: a Negroni made with Hendrick's tastes wrong because the gin can't stand up to Campari.
What to buy:
Hendrick's — cucumber and rose, made for G&Ts.
Monkey 47 — Black Forest botanicals, dense, expensive, polarizing.
St. George Botanivore — wildly herbal, American craft.
Aviation American Gin — softer, citrus-forward, easy gateway from vodka.
Navy Strength
Not really a separate style — usually a London Dry bottled at 57% ABV (114 proof) instead of 40-47%. Historical: navy gunners needed gin that could spill on gunpowder and still ignite.
Flavor: the same gin, louder. More juniper, more body, more everything.
Use it in: anywhere you want gin to win the fight — citrus-heavy sours, heavy-tonic G&Ts, a Martini you want to remember tomorrow.
What to buy: Plymouth Navy Strength, Fords Officers' Reserve, Sipsmith VJOP, Hayman's Royal Dock.
Botanicals beyond juniper
Every gin spec sheet lists botanicals. The ones that actually matter:
Coriander seed — citrus and pepper. Second most important botanical after juniper in nearly every gin.
Angelica root — earthy, woody, ties the other botanicals together. The "binder."
Orris root — fixative; rarely tasted directly but holds aromas in place.
Citrus peel — lemon, orange, grapefruit. The "brightness" lever.
Cassia / cinnamon — warmth.
Cardamom — increasingly common in contemporary gins; can dominate fast.
A "juniper-forward" gin keeps these supporting. A "contemporary" gin lets them lead.
Why juniper-forward gin makes a better Martini
A Martini is gin, vermouth, ice. There's nowhere to hide. If your gin's lead note is cucumber or floral water, your Martini tastes like cucumber-floral water with a vague background of vermouth.
Juniper, by contrast, has the structural weight to hold up against vermouth's bitterness and the dilution from a long stir. It also pairs naturally with the herbal notes in a good dry vermouth.
This is also why a Negroni made with Hendrick's doesn't quite land — Campari is loud. Hendrick's isn't.
Quick note on G&T ratios
The default 1:2 (gin to tonic) is fine for restaurant pours but underbuilt at home. Try:
Spanish-style: 1:3 in a giant balloon glass with a lot of ice and a generous citrus garnish. The ice keeps it cold and dilutes slowly; the big glass concentrates aromatics.
British-style: 1:2 in a highball, shorter pour, more focused.
High-end tonic matters more than high-end gin. Fever-Tree Indian, Fentimans, or any small-batch tonic transforms even a $20 gin. Cheap tonic ruins a $50 one.
Where to go next:the agave family for the herbal/vegetal flip side, Rum Decoded for sugar-based spirits, and Whiskey Decoded if you've already got the gin shelf locked in.