New Gins To Try In Your Favorite Summer Cocktails

Aug 11, 2023

Experiment with new gins in your summer cocktails.

Now that the weather begins to warm, refreshing gin cocktails are in order.

There are some exciting new options — or at least new to the United States — to try for your garden party, happy hour or alfresco brunch. Many of the new options include an emphasis on specific ingredients, like rose or sage that shine in a gin and tonic or soda (or mix them for a gin sonic), or can inspire your cocktail creativity.

Here are bottles to try now:

Bombay Sapphire Premier Cru Murcian Lemon

Bombay Sapphire Premier Cru, $35

The latest release from Bombay Sapphire puts the emphasis on the people that grow and produce one of the most important botanicals in the gin: lemons sourced from the Murcia region of Spain and relations with producers nurtured by Master of Botanicals Ivano Tonutti.

"It's right by the sea with with mountains surrounding it, and it's incredible — just fields and fields of lemon trees," said Master Distiller Anne Brock. "It's beautiful and the smell is so intense, and they create some of the best citrus in the world."

Brock said that with a big producer like Bombay, people are surprised to learn that so much is hand crafted, even down to peeling the lemons by hand with a knife.

"They do it in one go, and it's so quick — it's amazing. It's a real skill to remove the peel without too much pith," she said. "It's exciting to see it."

The Premier Cru is brighter than traditional Bombay Sapphire and is made with more Murcian Fino lemons, but also mandarins and naval oranges to increase a wider range citrus notes. It makes it an obvious choice for a martini with a twist, but also works well in a gin cocktail with a focus on lemon, like a French 75 or a Bee's Knees.

Monkey 47 Distiller's Cut

Monkey 47 Distiller's Cut Edition 12 , $79

Every year, Monkey 47, a high-end gin from Germany's Black Forest that comes in apothecary-style bottles, announces a new edition of a distiller's cut that adds a 48th botanical to the other 47 in the regular recipe. The 12th edition, which started hitting shelves in February, adds Woodruff sourced from the Black Forest just outside the distillery. Woodruff contains lots of coumarin, which is a polyphenolic compound found in tonka beans and cinnamon that also smells like vanilla with a bit of a bitter taste. The gin is a great option for negronis (both a classic or a white negroni) or a gin and tonic garnished with some cinnamon and peppercorns.

Glendalough Wild Rose Irish Gin

Glendalough Wild Rose Irish Gin, $33

Glendalough Distillery, which also makes some nice Irish Whiskeys, is the only Irish distillery that works with a full-time forager to harvest local botanicals in the Wicklow mountains for its Wild Botanical and Wild Rose Gins. The gins have been around for a few years, but recently got a facelift with a bottle design that reflects the area being known as the "garden of Ireland" and the area's history as an important monastic site in Ireland.

The rose gin was first created by Head Distiller Ciarán "Rowdy" Rooney to honor his mother, Rose and served at his younger brother's wedding. It makes a beautiful martini garnished with a rose petal, or in a gin and tonic garnished with mint, and either orange or lime.

Hendrick's Flora Adora Gin

Hendrick's Flora Adora, $40

This limited-release is designed to celebrate spring, and takes the rose notes that are present in Hendrick's and amps them up with other sweet floral notes and is designed to be used with sparkling water or cocktails as opposed to tonic. The special release is the fourth in Cabinet of Curiosity series, the Scottish brand's innovation lab overseen by Master Distiller Lesley Gracie.

"Hendrick's Gin is no stranger to florals, thanks to our iconic and beloved infusion of rose and cucumber, but Flora Adora is a cocktail pleasure unlike any other as it's reminiscent of a fresh floral bouquet," said Vance Henderson, Hendrick's Gin National Ambassador. "It's exquisite when simply joined with sparkling water, and dances amongst your palate when mixed into a refreshing cocktail such as the Wildgarden Cup – a medley of fresh mint, cooling cucumber and juicy raspberries lengthened with sparkling water."

Engine Gin

Engine, $35

This car-themed Italian gin — it even comes in a tin can — recently reached the states. It highlights botanicals from across Italy, including Damask roses from the Alta Langa region, juniper from Tuscany, and licorice from Calabria. But the predominate notes that set the gin apart are lemons from Sicily and sage from Alta Langa, between the Piedmont and Liguria regions. The sage and lemon are highly aromatic but also give the gin a savory and slightly bitter note that balance out the sweetness. Amp up that factor by garnishing your gin and tonic with a sprig of sage, or use it in a negroni to add an earthy touch.

Drumshanbo with California Orange Citrus Gunpowder Irish Gin

Drumshanbo with California Orange Citrus Gunpowder Irish Gin, $37

This distillery on the West Coast of Ireland is known for its Gunpowder Irish Gin where tea gives the gin an extra kick of spice. This new release follows a Sardinian Citrus from 2021, except this edition focuses on California oranges in addition to the existing lemons, limes and grapefruit used in the Gunpowder Gin. I think there's enough going on with this gin that I prefer to drink it with soda and an orange slice rather than tonic.

The bottle, which is a bright ombre yellow and orange, will be a stunner on your bar cart.