Booth's is one of those names that anyone who has spent time around the gin trade will recognise immediately — a brand with deep roots in London's distilling history, one that once commanded serious shelf space on both sides of the Atlantic. The Finest Dry Gin Bot.1959 is a bottling that speaks to a very specific moment in that legacy, and holding one is rather like handling a time capsule from the golden age of the London Dry category.
A Heritage London Dry
At 40% ABV, this sits at the standard strength for a London Dry of its era — no concessions to the contemporary trend for navy strength or overproof expressions. Booth's built its reputation on clean, juniper-forward distilling, and a 1959 bottling would reflect the house style that made the brand a fixture in bars long before the craft gin explosion rewrote the rules. The botanicals remain unconfirmed, but with a brand of this pedigree, you would expect a classically structured profile: juniper at the centre, supported by citrus peel and coriander, with perhaps a restrained use of angelica and orris root to add depth and dryness.
Collector's Territory
At £325, this is squarely a collector's bottle rather than a bartender's daily pour, and the price reflects its scarcity and historical significance more than any contemporary production cost. For those of us who track where the industry has come from, bottles like this are invaluable reference points — they remind you what London Dry meant before the market fragmented into dozens of substyles. I rate it 8/10: a well-preserved piece of gin history from a brand that shaped the category, though the premium is driven by provenance rather than liquid alone.
Best served: If you do open it, keep things simple — a measured pour with a good Indian tonic and a twist of lemon peel. Let the gin speak for itself. Booth's earned that much.
