World Gin Day is a global celebration of all things gin, held on the second Saturday in June – this year it’s on Saturday 12 June 2021.
It may come of no surprise that gin sales are absolutely soaring, up 30% over the past 12 months alone. You can’t go into a supermarket, bar (or pub) or food market without a variety of gins on offer.
New HMRC figures show a record number of distilleries were registered in the UK in 2020 – growing by over 100 in 12 months – for the first time. Despite the pandemic, the number of distilleries have grown considerably not just across the UK, but in Wales too.
What is World Gin Day?
World Gin Day has been going since 2009 (from what we’ve heard) and the idea of having a celebration day dedicated to the spirit founded by Neil Houston, who had the bright idea of bringing his friends together to drink gin in Birmingham.
Since then the day has grown year on year, reaching an ever bigger audience with events running in over 30 countries around the world, reaching over 200 million people on social channels. In 2013, the current organiser Emma Stokes took over the reins from Neil and it has continued ever since.
According to the latest stats from the WSTA, sales of gin in the UK totalled £2.5 billion in the year to March 2021, with more than 80 million bottles sold. In the UK, we’re not the only fans of the drink, gin exports account for £672 million of sales (HMRC).
The best Welsh gins available in 2021
Grounds for Good
The coffee based but caffeine free spirit is the latest product from Grounds for Good, a lockdown-launched range, created in October by medical doctor turned beauty entrepreneur Dr Rosie Oretti and friend and fellow beauty expert Amy Adams.
- London Dry Gin – made from recycled coffee grounds
Aber Falls
Globally award-winning Welsh gin. Infused with botanical ingredients from across North Wales, our globally awarded gin has been expertly crafted using Welsh water, filtered from the Snowdon mountain range.
- Orange Marmalade Gin
- Rhubarb and Ginger Gin
- Small Batch
- Welsh Dry Gin
- Breindal Welsh Gin
Cygnet
Cygnet Gin is produced in Swansea by distiller Dai Wakely, who uses a selection of botanicals from all over the world.
- Cygnet Dry
- Cygnet Pinc
Pink gin, made with fresh strawberries and raspberries
- Cherry Drop Gin Liqueur
Crawshay Gin and Spirits
Crawshay is a premium spirits brand introduced by Hensol Castle Distillery with a variety of Gins, Vodkas and Liqueurs. The distillery is located in the basement of Hensol Castle which hosts a gin school and visitor experience centre.
- Welsh Dry Gin
- Strawberry Gin
- Orange Zest Gin
- Rhubarb and Vanilla
- Sweet Violet Gin
- Taffy Apple Gin
In the Welsh Wind
Based in Cardigan, the distillery offers a variety of gins using botanicals native to, or synonymous with Wales, and gin making experiences. Eccentric Spirits is another part of the distillery.
- Signature Style Gin
- Tailer your Gin
Make your own – you can select your choice of base recipe and then add a twist all of your own with a selection of up to three hero botanicals.
- Eccentric Spirits
- Cardiff Dry
- Dewi Sant
- Pembrokeshire Pinky
- Madame Geneva
- Young Tom
- Limbeck
Snowdonia Spirit Company
Distilled and bottled at In the Welsh Wind.
- Signature Welsh Gin
- Bara Brith Gin
- Lemon Gin
- Love Spoon Wild Fruit Gin
Penderyn
Bottled at Penderyn Distillery with water from the Brecon Beacons.
- Brecon Gin
- Brecon Botanicals Gin
- Rhubarb and Cranberry
- Chocolate Orange
- Rose Petal
Dyfi Distillery
A Unique Distillery in the UNESCO World Biosphere of Dyfi.
- Dyfi Original Gin
- Pollination Gin
- Hibernation Gin
- Navigation Gin
Dà Mhìle
Organic spirits. Based in Ceridigion.
- Pink Gin
- Organic Seaweed Gin
- Organic Gin
- Sloe Gin
- Oak-Aged Gin
The Gower Gin Company
Micro-distillery is in a converted bike shed in Port Eynon. Gin garden available to see distillery and taste all gins.
- Gŵyr
- Pinwydd
- Rhosili
- Bara Brith
- Rhamanta
- Nerth Y Ddraig
Solva Gin
‘Wales’ only not for profit gin company’ –originally developed and created for the Solva Edge Festival, proceeds from sales go to the Edge Festival charity. Created at In the Welsh Wind.
- Solva Gin
Merywen Gin
North Star Distillery in North Wales 2016.
- Merywen Gin
- Merywen Strawberry and Rose Gin
- Merywen Rhubarb, Ginger and Hibiscus Gin
Forager’s
Takes six times longer over each batch then most distilleries, limits production to just 5,000 bottles per expression, and spend months of the year foraging – only use the botanicals around them.
- Foragers Yellow Label Gin
- Foragers Black Label Gin
- Foragers Clogau Reserve 2019
- Foragers Clogau Reserve 2020 Gin Liqueur
Welsh Sisters Dry Gin
Story of women and the sea on the Welsh coast from history. Gin tasting bar and shop in Newquay.
- Morwyn
- The Captain’s Wife
- Portside
Cardiff Distillery
Premium, award winning gins made in the heart of the Welsh Capital – they even have their very own Gin School where you can create your own.
- Jin Caerdydd
- St. Clements
- Novello
- Calon Fach
- Fields of Pontcanna
- Lady Sophia
