Gordon's Gin

Gordon's Gin
Type London dry gin
Manufacturer Diageo
Country of origin England
Introduced 1769
Alcohol by volume 37.2% - 47.3%
Colour clear

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 is made in 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]

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.[4] All production moved to the Gordon's Goswell Road site.[4] In 1899, Charles Gordon died, ending the family association with the company.[7]

In 1904 the distinctive square-faced, green bottle for the home market was introduced.[4] In 1906 Gordon's Sloe gin went into production.[4] 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.[4] 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 USA, at Linden, New Jersey.[4]

By 1962 at least it was the world's highest selling gin.[8]

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.[9]

From 2007-2011[10] then in 2014, British chef Gordon Ramsay was the commercial spokesman for Gordon's Gin.

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.[11]

Products

An export bottle of Gordon's London Dry Gin

The recipe for Gordon's is known to only twelve people in the world and has been kept a secret for 250 years.[12] Triple-distilled, the gin contains juniper berries, coriander seeds, angelica root, liquorice, orris root, orange and lemon peel.[2] It takes ten days distillation after receiving the wheat to create a finished product of a bottle of Gordon's Gin.[13] Gordon's recipe differentiated from others at the time in that it didn't add sugar, which other distillers had used to disguise impurities.[7] This made it a "dry" gin.[7]

In the UK Gordon's is sold in a green glass bottle, but in export markets it is sold in a clear bottle.[14] 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[15] (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 is sold, while in New Zealand and Australia, as of 2011, it is sold at 37.2% ABV,[16] 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 flavoured gin, which blends the original gin with cucumber flavour.[17] In early 2014, Gordon's Elderflower was added to their "flavoured" gin collection, and is made in much the same way, with a natural elderflower flavouring being added to the original recipe.

Discontinued products

Gins

Shaker cocktails

A range of pre-mixed drinks:

Other products

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.[18]

Gordon's was Ernest Hemingway's favourite gin, which he claimed could "fortify, mollify and cauterize practically all internal and external injuries".[19]

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 the empties.

References

  1. ↑ http://www.diageo.com/en-sc/ourbrands/categories/spirits/pages/gin.aspx#gordons
  2. 1 2 "Gordon's London Dry Gin". Diageo. Retrieved 2014-01-08.
  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 | Marketing Magazine
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 "GORDON'S GIN - A TIMELINE". Diageo. <--Website requires registration, 23 Apr 2015.
  5. ↑ "Gordon's A Distilled History". Gordons website. Retrieved December 2011. Check date values in: |access-date= (help)
  6. ↑ Eunson, John K.V. (2012). Caledonia Dreaming. Headline. p. 18. ISBN 978-0-7553-6311-7.
  7. 1 2 3 http://www.gordons-gin.co.uk/about/gordon's-history
  8. ↑ Johnson Publishing Company (December 1962). Ebony. Johnson Publishing Company. p. 130. ISSN 0012-9011. Retrieved 14 November 2012.
  9. ↑ Carbon
  10. ↑ "Last orders: Gordon Ramsay dropped as face of Gordon's gin and replaced by Philip Glenister and Emilia Fox after sales fall". Mail Online. Retrieved 17 April 2017.
  11. ↑ "Gordon's". Gin Foundry. Retrieved 3 February 2017.
  12. ↑ "Gordon's Gin". Gordons-gin.co.uk. Retrieved 31 August 2011.
  13. ↑ Loch Fyne Whiskies - Scotch Whisky Review - Edition 16
  14. ↑ http://www.gordons-gin.co.uk/about/facts-about-gordon's
  15. ↑ 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.
  16. ↑ 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.
  17. ↑ Bar Magazine | Developing Premium Bar Excellence | Gordon's to introduce cucumber-flavoured gin
  18. ↑ "The Vesper " Summer Fruit Cup". Summerfruitcup.wordpress.com. 4 July 2010. Retrieved 26 April 2011.
  19. ↑ Craig Boreth (1 September 2012). The Hemingway Cookbook. Chicago Review Press. p. 172. ISBN 978-1-61374-072-9. Retrieved 14 November 2012.
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