Scam: most gin is actually fake
Just brought home an expensive bottle of gin for your next party or gathering, only to find that the contents consist of just 1% gin! How do you make sure you choose a truly good gin from all those different bottles?
Bobby’s, Tanqueray, Rutte, Hendricks, V2C: are you also getting dizzy from all those gin brands? Here’s how to recognize a good bottle.
Diluted
Distiller Fenny van Wees tells Keuringsdienst van Waarde that some bottles of gin contain just 1% (!) gin, with the rest diluted with pure alcohol, water and flavorings. According to Fenny, the London dry gin from Quality 10 (at €10) isn’t even worth discussing. A gin made with 100% gin distillate, such as her own gin: A.van.Wees, is a better option, according to her.
Unfortunately, this isn’t always clearly indicated on the bottle, and even a 100% distilled dry gin may consist of 1% gin distillate and additives for the rest. So it’s still not entirely clear.
Traditional baker
Myriam Hendrickx, director of Rutte Distillery, thinks the story is complete nonsense. ”The difference between a cheap and a more expensive gin lies in how the gin is distilled. Are the ingredients balanced, and is it distilled in such a way that the best flavors are extracted from the herbs? Cheaper brands don’t distill the herbs, but add them later. Premium brands distill the herbs along with the alcohol to extract the flavor.”
“The flavor is also different: cheaper gin tastes harsher in the mouth because the ingredients in the gin are out of balance. With premium brands, no single botanical is immediately dominant; instead, everything is balanced with the alcohol. Premium brands are the traditional bakers of the gin world. Everyone thinks of Hendricks and Tanqueray, but also try a Dutch premium gin such as Rutte Celery Gin, Loopuyt, Dutch Courage or a Belgian one: Filliers.” So the best thing you can do is take a bottle of gin home and taste it, or ask whether you can taste it at the liquor store.
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