Gordon's Gin

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Gordon's is a popular brand of gin produced in the United Kingdom and under license in New Zealand and several other former British territories, with the top markets for Gordon's being Great Britain, the US, Greece and Africa. It is owned by the multi-national alcohol company Diageo Plc.

It was developed in London in 1769 by a Scot, Alexander Gordon, who had opened a distillery in Clerkenwell. The Special London Dry Gin he developed proved extremely successful, and its recipe remains unchanged to this day. Triple-distilled, the gin contains juniper, coriander seeds, angelica root and other botanicals.

Gordon's Gin is unique in that it holds the Royal Warrant for gin. The recipe for Gordon's is known to only 12 people in the world and has been kept a secret for 200 years.

Gordon's gin seems to be regarded as a rather low quality, cheap, brand in New Zealand and the USA. This may be due to the fact that in New Zealand whey, rather than grain is used in the distillation process. By contrast, in the UK, at least until the mid-1990s, it was more or less the "standard" gin served in pubs, and the phrase "Gordon's and Tonic" was not uncommon. In the mid-90s though the alcohol content was cut from 40% ABV to 37.5% ABV to save money, moving it from a "Premium" to a "Standard" gin strength.

In the UK, Gordon's is sold in a distinctive green glass bottle; in all other markets it is sold in a clear bottle which is sometimes made of plastic, depending on the size.

In addition to the main product line, Gordon's also produce a sloe gin, a vodka and two Ready-To-Drink variants, Space and Spark.

It is featured in the James Bond film Casino Royale as part of the Vesper (cocktail)