There are certain gins that announce themselves not with a shout but with a quiet confidence — the kind that comes from knowing exactly what they are. Edinburgh Botanics' London Dry Gin is one such spirit. At 43% ABV, it sits at that considered sweet spot just above the London Dry minimum, suggesting a distiller who wanted enough strength to carry the botanical payload without overwhelming the drinker.
A City Built on Botanicals
Edinburgh has long been a city where the wild and the cultivated exist in close quarters. The Royal Botanic Garden, one of the oldest in the world, has shaped the city's relationship with plants for centuries. It feels entirely natural, then, that a gin bearing the name "Botanics" should emerge from this tradition — a spirit that nods to the extraordinary diversity of flora that has passed through Edinburgh's glasshouses and gardens over generations.
As a London Dry, this gin follows the most exacting of production methods: all flavour derived during distillation, no post-distillation additions beyond water and a negligible amount of sweetening. It is a discipline that rewards good ingredients and a steady hand. The result here is a clean, structured gin that feels purposeful in its composition. At £33.25, it occupies sensible middle ground — not bargain-shelf, not extravagant — and represents fair value for a well-made London Dry with genuine character.
I scored this a 7.3 — a solid, well-crafted gin that honours its category and its namesake without trying to reinvent the wheel. Sometimes that is exactly what you want.
