Peddlers Shanghai Craft Gin is one of those bottles that immediately signals ambition. A craft gin out of Shanghai, carrying the London Dry designation at a muscular 45.7% ABV — this is a brand that clearly wants to be taken seriously on the international stage, and at £34.50, it's priced to compete in the premium-but-accessible bracket that's become the most fiercely contested space in craft spirits.
A Bridge Between East and West
What interests me about Peddlers is the positioning. The name itself evokes the old Shanghai trading routes, and there's a deliberate narrative here about connecting Eastern botanical traditions with the rigour of London Dry production. That's a tightrope — lean too far into novelty and you alienate the classic gin drinker; play it too safe and you lose the entire point of difference. At 45.7%, there's enough backbone to suggest the distillers have opted for substance over gimmick, which I appreciate.
The London Dry classification tells us the botanical character is baked into the distillation rather than added afterwards, meaning whatever Eastern-influenced ingredients are in play here have been chosen to work within that structured framework. That discipline matters. Too many gins trading on exotic provenance forget that the liquid still has to function in a drink.
Best Served
A gin like this, with its East-meets-West identity and sturdy ABV, is built for a classic G&T with a quality Indian tonic — Fever-Tree or East Imperial would be my picks. A twist of grapefruit peel rather than lime lets the botanical complexity breathe. Bartenders I know who stock Peddlers tend to reach for it in Negroni variations too, where the higher proof earns its keep against the vermouth and Campari.
At 7.7 out of 10, Peddlers delivers on its promise: a thoughtfully positioned craft gin that respects the London Dry tradition while carving out a genuine point of difference. It's a serious entry in an increasingly crowded field.
