Gordon's Gin

Gordon's is a brand of London dry gin first produced in 1769. The top markets for Gordon's are (in descending order) the United Kingdom, the United States and Greece.[1] It is owned by the British spirits company Diageo and, in the UK, is made at Cameron Bridge Distillery in Fife, Scotland (although flavourings may be added elsewhere). It is the world's best-selling London dry gin.[2] Gordon's has been the UK's number one gin since the late 19th century.[3] A 40% ABV version for the North American market is distilled in Canada.

Gordon's Gin
TypeLondon dry gin
ManufacturerDiageo
Country of originEngland
Introduced1769
Alcohol by volume37.2% – 47.3%
ColourColourless
Websitewww.gordonsgin.com/en-row/home/ 

History
The Cameron Bridge Distillery in Scotland where Gordon's is produced

Gordon's London Dry Gin was developed by Alexander Gordon, a Londoner of Scots descent.[4] He opened a distillery in the Southwark area in 1769, later moving in 1786 to Clerkenwell.[4] The Special London Dry Gin he developed proved successful, and its recipe remains unchanged to this day.[5] Its popularity with the Royal Navy saw bottles of the product distributed all over the world.[6]

In 1898 Gordon & Co. amalgamated with Charles Tanqueray & Co. to form Tanqueray Gordon & Co. All production moved to the Gordon's Goswell Road site. In 1899, Charles Gordon died, ending the family association with the business.[4]

In 1904 the distinctive square-faced, green bottle for the home market was introduced. In 1906 Gordon's Sloe Gin went into production. The earliest evidence in recipe books for the production of Gordon's Special Old Tom was in 1921.[4]

In 1922 Tanqueray Gordon & Co. was acquired by the Distillers Company. In 1924 Gordon's began production of a 'Ready-to-Serve' Shaker Cocktail range, each in an individual shaker bottle.[4]

In 1925 Gordon's was awarded its first Royal Warrant by King George V.[4] In 1929 Gordon's released an orange gin followed by a lemon variety in 1931.

In 1934 Gordon's opened its first distillery in the US, at Linden, New Jersey.[4]

By 1962 at least it was the world's highest selling gin.[7]

In 1984 British production was moved to Laindon in Essex. In 1998 production was moved to Fife in Scotland, where it remains to this day.[8]

Every label and bottle top of Gordon's gin bears a depiction of a wild boar. According to legend a member of Clan Gordon saved the King of Scotland from the animal while hunting.[9]

Products
An export bottle of Gordon's London Dry Gin

According to the manufacturer, Gordon's gin is triple-distilled and contains juniper berries, coriander seeds, angelica root, licorice, orris root, orange, and lemon peel, though the exact recipe has remained a closely guarded secret since 1769. It differed from others at the time in that it didn't add sugar, which made it a "dry" gin.[5] It takes ten days' distillation after receiving the wheat to create a finished product of a bottle of Gordon's Gin.[10]

In the UK Gordon's is sold in a green glass bottle, but in export markets, it is sold in a clear bottle.[11] Some airport duty-free shops sell it in plastic bottles in the 75cl size.

Gordon's is sold in several different strengths depending on the market. In the US, the strength is 40% ABV. Until 1992, the ABV in the UK was 40%, but it was reduced to 37.5% to bring Gordon's gin into line with other white spirits such as white rum and vodka, and also reduce production costs[12] (the other leading brands of gin in the UK, Beefeater gin and Bombay Sapphire, are both 40% ABV in the UK). In continental Europe and in some duty-free stores, a 47.3% ABV version (Traveller's Edition) is available in addition to the 37.5% one, while in New Zealand and Australia, as of 2011, it is sold at 37.2% ABV,[13] and in South Africa, it is 43% ABV.

In addition to the main product line, Gordon's also produces a sloe gin; a vodka (US & Venezuela only), two alcopop variants, Space and Spark; three vodka liqueur variants, Cranberry, Parchita and Limon (Venezuela only) and a canned, pre-mixed gin and tonic as well as a canned Gordon's and Grapefruit (500ml - Russia only).

On 11 February 2013, Gordon's announced the release of Gordon's Crisp Cucumber, a flavored gin, which blends the original gin with cucumber flavor.[14] In early 2014, Gordon's Elderflower was added to their "flavored" gin collection, and is made in much the same way, with a natural elderflower flavoring being added to the original recipe.

In August 2017, Gordon's began selling Gordons Pink, a pink-colored gin flavored with several types of red berries.[15]

In February 2020, Gordon’s launched two new flavours in lemon and peach.[16]

In April 2020, it was announced that Gordon’s were launching an orange flavoured gin.

Discontinued products

Gins
  • Gordon's special Old Tom Gin (1921–1987)[4]
  • Orange Gin (1929–1988, 2020–)[4]
  • Lemon Gin (1931–1988, 2020–)[4]
  • Spearmint gin (US only)
  • Gordon's Distiller's Cut - A luxury version of the gin, released in 2004, with additional botanicals of lemongrass and ginger.

Shaker cocktails

A range of pre-mixed drinks:

  • (1924–1967) Fifty-Fifty, Martini, Dry Martini, Perfect, Piccadilly, followed by Manhattan, San Martin, Dry San Martin and Bronx.[4]
  • (1930–1967) Rose, Paradise and Gimlet 1930-1967.[4]
  • (1924–1990) Dry/Extra Dry Martini[4]

Other products
  • Finest Old Jamaica Rum
  • Orange Bitters (made from Seville Oranges)
1912 bottle of Gordon’s Gin

Gordon's Gin is specified by name in the recipe for the Vesper Cocktail given by James Bond in Ian Fleming's 1953 novel Casino Royale.[17]

Gordon's was Ernest Hemingway's favourite gin, which he claimed could "fortify, mollify and cauterize practically all internal and external injuries".[18]

In the movie The African Queen Katharine Hepburn's character pours Humphrey Bogart's entire crate of Gordon's bottles into the river and floats away from the empties.

In the 14th episode of the anime series Transformers: Super God Masterforce, towards the end of the episode, a hospital patient reveals that he snuck in a bottle of Gordon's Gin and the label was in its export colors.

In the film The Sting, Paul Newman's character drinks Gordon’s Gin whilst playing cards with Robert Shaw's character.

In the film The Big Heat, Gloria Grahame's character mixes a cocktail with Gordon's Gin.

According to an eyewitness account cited in A Night to Remember (book) by Walter Lord, a passenger of the RMS Titanic "drained" a bottle of Gordon’s Gin and survived the sinking.[19]

gollark: Oh. Right.
gollark: You'd expect them to order it directly from the supplier or something.
gollark: Why would people buy stupidly expensive stuff like that on *ebay*?
gollark: What can even *use* that much?
gollark: 100 gigabit?!

References
  1. Gin diageo.com
  2. "Gordon's London Dry Gin". Diageo. Retrieved 8 January 2014.
  3. "GREAT BRITISH BRANDS: Gordon's Gin - Dating from the late 18th century, the recipe for this iconic brand is said to be the same as it was 233 years ago". www.campaignlive.co.uk.
  4. "GORDON'S GIN - A TIMELINE". Diageo. Archived from the original on 15 April 2015. <--Website requires registration, 23 Apr 2015.
  5. "Gordon's Gin - A Distilled History". Tanqueray Gordon & Co. Archived from the original on 2 October 2011. Retrieved 31 August 2011.
  6. Eunson, John K.V. (2012). Caledonia Dreaming. Headline. p. 18. ISBN 978-0-7553-6311-7.
  7. Johnson Publishing Company (December 1962). Ebony. Johnson Publishing Company. p. 130. ISSN 0012-9011.
  8. Carbon Archived 6 May 2012 at the Wayback Machine
  9. "Gordon's". Gin Foundry. Retrieved 3 February 2017.
  10. "Hamish's Whisky Blog". Hamish's Whisky Blog.
  11. "Gordon's London Dry Gin". www.gordonsgin.com.
  12. This is Money15 October 2009 Reader comments (9) (15 October 2009). "Why has gin got so much weaker?". This is Money. Retrieved 26 April 2011.
  13. The Original Gordon's London Dry Gin. (Bottle, 375mL) Bottled in New Zealand under Licence for Diageo Australia, Huntingwood, NSW by Lion Nathan Wines and Spirits New Zealand, Newmarket, Auckland, New Zealand. Batch code: A1018916:58.
  14. "Bar Magazine - Developing Premium Bar Excellence - Gordon's to introduce cucumber-flavored gin".
  15. Ch, Victoria; ler (20 July 2017). "Gordon's has released a new gin – and it's pink!". Good Housekeeping.
  16. Bradbury, Sarah (26 February 2020). "Gordon's gin is releasing a new Sicilian Lemon flavour for spring". Mirror.
  17. "The Vesper " Summer Fruit Cup". Summerfruitcup.wordpress.com. 4 July 2010. Retrieved 26 April 2011.
  18. Craig Boreth (2012). The Hemingway Cookbook. Chicago Review Press. p. 172. ISBN 978-1-61374-072-9.
  19. Walter Lord (2012). A Night to Remember. Penguin Books 2012. pp. 80–81. ISBN 978-0-241-96236-7.
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