Gins for People Who Don't Like Juniper

With unexpected botanicals like basil, strawberry, and rose, these bottles might convert gin haters into gin lovers.

We say gin, you say—evergreen tree? By definition, gin must contain juniper, and London Dry styles of the botanical-based spirit are unabashedly juniper-forward. But if that flavor profile isn’t your jam, you’re in luck, as the gin category these days has plenty of modern versions that play down the pine and ramp up other ingredients. Equally perfect in contemporary cocktails as well as unexpected twists on classics, these seven aromatic spirits will make a believer out of you.

Glendalough Distillery Wild Rose Gin

Glendalough Wild Rose Irish Gin photo credit Glendalough Distillery

Head distiller Ciaran “Rowdy” Rooney first produced this garden in a glass spirit for his younger brother’s wedding to honor their recently late mother Rose, who adored her eponymous flower. It was beloved so much by guests that it was added to the distillery’s permanent portfolio. The small batch Irish gin is infused with three kinds of fresh rose petals—including some picked from the matriarch’s garden—which are vapor-distilled for 16 to 18 hours, followed by a steeping with fresh and dried petals, which enhances the heady aroma and flavor and lends a pink hue. Other locally-foraged botanicals round out the profile including woodruff, elderflower and wild raspberries. “These elements harmonize beautifully, creating a well-balanced, gentle floral flavor,” according to brand ambassador Jacob Medina. “It’s an inviting introduction to gin, showcasing its versatility and elegance without overwhelming the palate.” He likes it in this cocktail that highlights the gin’s vibrant acidity, floral, sweet spices, and subtle pink peppercorn. It’s also a NY International Spirits Competition 2024 gold winner.

Every Rose Has Its Thorn

Recipe courtesy of Eliza Hoar, Bar Principal, Equal Measure, Boston, MA

1 ½ oz. Wild Rose Irish Gin

1 oz. blanc vermouth

½ oz. apricot liqueur

Lemon peel, for garnish

Add the first three ingredients to a cocktail glass, add ice and stir until well chilled. Strain into a chilled coupe or cocktail glass, express the lemon peel over the cocktail and around the rim, then place in the glass.

Victoria Distillers Empress 1908 Indigo Gin

Thanks to the inclusion of butterfly pea flower, this gin from British Columbia, A NY International Spirits Competition 2024 gold winner, can turn a cocktail pink if you add acidic ingredients to it, blue if you add basic ones. But it’s much more than just a bartender’s parlor trick. That floral component also helps balance the spirit’s citrus notes and give it a soft, herbal warmth, according to master distiller Phll Lecours. “With ingredients like grapefruit peel, black tea and butterfly pea blossom, it has a smoother, rounder flavor, which makes it an ideal choice for those just getting to know gin,” he says. “It’s both familiar and distinctive, with a nice complexity that isn't overwhelming.” To make it, a corn-based spirit is macerated with modern botanicals for freshness and depth including grapefruit peel, cinnamon, ginger and rose, distilled in small batches in copper pots for a full, round mouthfeel, and then infused with the magic blossoms and black tea. Aromatic with a clean finish and a vibrant indigo appearance in the bottle, it’s easy to enjoy in a variety of cocktails whose hue transform before your very eyes, like the Empress & Tonic, a G&T twist garnished with a ruby red grapefruit slice, or a variation on the White Lady:

Empress White Lady

Recipe courtesy of @itscocktailhour and Empress Gin

2 oz. Empress 1908 Indigo Gin

¾ oz. orange liqueur

½ oz. fresh lemon juice

1 egg white

Lemon twist, for garnish

Add the gin, orange liqueur, lemon juice and egg white to a cocktail shaker. Dry shake without ice, add ice and shake again until well chilled. Strain into a chilled coupe and garnish with the lemon twist.

Caledonia Spirits Barr Hill Tom Cat Gin

Maturing this Vermont gin for a year in new charred American oak barrels allows it to pick up notes of caramel, sweet char, maple, pine and citrus, along with a long finish of baking spices and creamy, luxurious mouthfeel. Over time, the spirit evolves into a compelling gin/whiskey hybrid that’s pretty unique to the industry, says Patrick Amice, general manager of hospitality, making it a spirit that can appeal to fans of Bourbon, rye and single-malt looking to crossover into the gin category. And another less-common production technique further ramps up its approachability. “It has a truly special balance that many dry ‘traditional’ gins don’t accomplish because we get much of our botanical depth from the addition of raw local honey,” Amice says. “Together, the high quality juniper, regional raw honey and the barrel aging help convert those who may have had past ‘gin-cidents’ to loving Tom Cat for its wonderful rich, full and delicious flavor.” It’s great in a Negroni or The Cat’s Pajamas, their riff on a Bee’s Knees, and it can stand in for the whiskey in classics like the Manhattan and this autumnal Old Fashioned.

Old Fashioned Mill No. 4

Recipe courtesy of Barr Hill Distillery

1 oz. Barr Hill Tom Cat Gin

1 oz. apple brandy

1 bar spoon cinnamon syrup

1 dash apple bitters

1 dash Angostura Bitters

Lemon and orange twist, for garnish

Cinnamon stick, for garnish

Add the first five ingredients to a cocktail glass, add ice and stir until well chilled. Strain over a large ice cube in a double Old Fashioned glass, garnish with the lemon and orange peels and cinnamon stick.

Murrell’s Row Spirits Tulsi Gin

Otherwise known as Holy Basil, the Tulsi basil plant common in Southeast Asia is the star ingredient for this contemporary gin from the Georgia distillery. “It’s a fascinating plant, with beautiful, dynamic aromatics of not only herbal basil but blueberry and clove,” says owner and distiller Bo Brown, who sources the plant from Stellar Roots Herb Farm in the Blue Ridge Mountains. “The botanical build of Tulsi Gin was created to pair with these flavors, with green cardamom and lemon peel and aromatics that pop the second you open the bottle.” The former bartender purposefully tamped down the amount of juniper to show off the other botanicals for his first attempt at a gin that eschewed piney notes in favor of floral, herbal and fruity tones that can win over any imbiber. Brown thinks his spirit works well in citrus-based classic sips like the Gimlet, Last Word or Martinez:

Tulsi Martinez

Recipe courtesy of Murrells Row Spirits

1 ½ oz. Tulsi Gin

1 ½ oz. sweet vermouth

¼ oz. Luxardo Maraschino

2 dashes Angostura Bitters

Orange peel, for garnish

Add the first four ingredients to a cocktail glass, add ice and stir until well chilled. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass and garnish with the orange peel.

King Coil Spirits Modern Gin

Though the Minnesota producer also makes a Dry Gin, founder and lead distiller Matt Lange says that their modern version was specifically crafted for the juniper-averse by turning up the volume on the citrus and floral elements. It’s distilled with botanicals including juniper, orange and grapefruit peels, fresh orange zest, coriander, chamomile and orris root using vapor distillation rather than the more common maceration method, a more gentle technique where ingredients never actually come in contact with the liquid base spirit. “The botanicals are placed in a ‘gin basket’ offset from the still that allows the vapor to pass through the botanicals in between the still and the condenser,” Lange explains. “This prevents the botanicals from being ‘cooked’ in the liquid as you heat the still, and creates a less harsh gin that preserves the more delicate flavors.” A NY International Spirits Competition 2024 gold winner. The citrus-forward spirit has a dry, flavorful palate and a hint of chamomile, all of which work in cocktails with orange or lemon like the classic Bee’s Knees.

Bees Knees

Recipe courtesy of King Coil Spirits

2 oz. King Coil Spirits Modern Gin

¾ oz. fresh lemon juice

½ oz. honey syrup (2 parts honey to 1 part hot water, stirred to combine)

Lemon twist, for garnish

Add the first three ingredients to a cocktail shaker, add ice and shake until well chilled. Strain into a coupe or cocktail glass and garnish with the lemon twist.

Hidden Ships Distillery Gin

Owner and head distiller Andrew Szwejbka is tickled to do tastings of his gateway gin at his North Carolina distillery for those unfamiliar with the category as well as others who’ve had an unpleasant experience. “We pride ourselves on giving those people a ‘gin-tervention’ to bring them back to gin,” he says. “Gin plays so well in craft cocktails because it can actually add complexity to the taste profile, as opposed to vodka that assumes the taste of the other ingredients.” For it, they use ten different botanicals including coriander, orange and lemon peels, lemon verbena and a touch of clove, which are added to brewer’s bags and steeped overnight in the still before distillation. The final product, a NY International Spirits Competition 2024 gold winner, has a whiff of subtle juniper on the nose which is muted on the intense orange palate; floral notes and hints of anise and cumin are joined by a creamy texture and followed by a dry finish. If you’re new to gin, Szwejbka recommends a sparkling wine-based French 75; for those already a fan, he suggests the complex herbal tones of a Last Word.

The Last Word

Recipe courtesy of Hidden Ships Distillery

¾ oz. Hidden Ships Distillery Gin

¾ oz. green Chartreuse

¾ oz. Luxardo Maraschino Originale

¾ oz. lime juice

Brandied cherry, for garnish

Add the first four ingredients to a cocktail shaker, add ice and shake until well chilled. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass and garnish with the cherry.

Spirit Hound Distillers Strawberry Basil Gin

This New American-style gin is about as far from a “Christmas tree slap in the face” as you can get, according to co-founder and head distiller Craig Engelhorn. Originally an infusion in their Colorado tasting room, the inclusion of fresh ingredients made the gin so popular with guests that they decided to bottle and label it. He starts with locally-grown Rocky Mountain juniper, cardamom, coriander, clove, cinnamon, fennel, anise, lemon and lime zest that are suspended above the spirit in a perforated basket and slowly introduced via vapor infusion. Afterward, fresh strawberries and gin are macerated in the gin for a week before it’s filtered, brought to proof and bottled. “It’s absolutely a gateway gin, not really sweet, with subtle fennel, cinnamon and clove spice and an easy finish,” Engelhorn says. “Add the fruit and herbal notes of strawberry and basil, and this is not at all the kind of gin that most would expect.” He loves it in their version of this cocktail that he describes as a summer porch pounder: