Given that I live right next to the world's oldest non-stop gin distillery, I have long admired this classic spirit. I present this list with no bias, as one of the brands from my local G&J Distillers has the misfortune of making an appearance here. When it comes to organizing your home bar, gin is an easy spirit to get wrong.
Jack thinks (and he's convinced me too) that a martini is a cocktail that's actually best made at home. You only need 2 ingredients-gin and dry vermouth-and you have complete control over the ratios. We both like ours dry, which is how I've written the recipe below, but I've also included notes on adapting it to make a wet martini. Try it a few times, and you'll quickly find a balance you love.
You could feel that in New York this year, where the 2025 New York World Spirits Competition handed Lighthouse Gin the Best of Class Gin trophy and set two very different bottles alongside it as finalists: Devil's Grin Gin and Tanqueray No. TEN. Together, they outline where the category is headed-precision on one side, layered regional character on the other, and a benchmark that reminds everyone what classic balance feels like in the glass.
The UK's Food and Drink Federation recently released data on imports and exports for the first half of 2025 - and it sure looks like Americans are picking up more of a taste for imported gin. Placing ninth on the Federation's list of top 10 exports for the first six months of 2025 was gin, with the volume shipped up 6.3% from a comparable period in 2024. The value of this gin was also up significantly from the same period last year - specifically, by 17.6%.
Will Thompson isn't terribly impressed with the state of gin these days. When the owner of Sunny's in Miami goes out on the town in search of a Martini, he often faces a bit of a dilemma. "I look at the backbar and there's six gins that I think all taste kinda like shit," he says. He feels there's been a downturn in overall gin quality and proof level.
