From classic styles to savoury profiles, we present 10 gins that would be perfect for celebrating National Martini Day tomorrow (19 June).
Dukes Bar’s reputation for making Martinis is known worldwide
An international icon of cocktail culture, the Martini has truly stood the test of time and has experienced a renaissance in recent years with the rise of classic serves and Art Deco-inspired bars.
The Martini is typically made with gin or vodka and vermouth, and there are a wide number of variations on the serve among brands and bars across the world.
While the drink requires few ingredients, it can be tricky to perfect. Here, we showcase 10 gin brands, along with Martini recipes, so you can get creative with the classic tipple at home on National Martini Day (19 June).
Click through the following pages to see our pick of the best gins for making Martinis.
Hernö Gin is produced by Swedish distillery Hernö and is bottled at 40.5% ABV. The brand has secured a number of awards over the years.
The Vesper Martini is the famous drink ordered by James Bond in Ian Fleming’s novel Casino Royale and is named after double agent Vesper Lynd.
To create the Vesper Martini, Hernö recommends:
Ingredients:
50ml Hernö Gin
15ml Vodka
10ml Lillet Blanc
Lemon zest
Method: Add Hernö Gin, vodka and Lillet Blanc to a shaker or glass. Shake or stir depending on your mood. Add lemon zest.
Sacred Gin is the tipple of choice for making Martinis at famed London venue Dukes Bar at Dukes Hotel, which is known for the classic serve. Dukes Bar is led by Italian bartender Alessandro Palazzi, who has been making cocktails in London since 1975, and over the past 11 years has been pushing the boundaries of Martini creation. While the venue’s bar team are all capable of making Martinis, the right to tip the excess vermouth from a Martini glass straight on to the carpet is reserved just for Palazzi.
To make a Martini, London-based producer Sacred Spirits uses Palazzi’s recipe below.
Ingredients:
50ml Sacred Gin or Sacred Vodka
Few drops of Sacred English Dry Vermouth
1 lemon
Method: Coat the inside of a chilled Martini glass with a few drops of Sacred English Dry Vermouth. Pour in 50ml of Sacred Gin or Vodka directly from the freezer. Take a lemon and pare a long slice of zest, avoiding the pith. Hold it over the glass and squeeze width ways so the surface of the drink is coated in oil. Rub the rim of the glass with the zest and drop into the Martini.
Known for its quirky marketing and rose and cucumber flavour, Hendrick’s Gin has been pushing its Tiny Martini concept over the years and has taken it on tour to some of the world’s best bars. Hendrick’s recommends a number of occasions to sip a classic Martini including cocktail parties, scandalous soirées, celebrations and apéritif hours. Check out the brand’s Martini recipe below.
Ingredients:
50ml Hendrick’s
7ml Dry vermouth
Method: Stir vermouth and Hendrick’s over ice cubes in a mixing glass. Strain into a Martini glass and garnish with a cucumber slice.
Method: Add all the ingredients to a mixing glass and fill with ice. Stir and strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with an olive or a lemon twist.
Tanqueray No. Ten is considered by many bars as one of the best gins to make a Martini. Produced by Diageo, Tanqueray No. Ten Gin gets its name from being made in the brand’s number 10 still, also referred to as ‘Tiny Ten’.
The recipe to make a Martini according to Tanqueray is featured below.
Ingredients:
50ml Tanqueray No. Ten
10ml Dry vermouth
Method: Stir the gin and vermouth together and strain into a chilled Martini glass. Garnish with a twist of pink grapefruit.
Britain’s oldest drinks merchant Berry Bros & Rudd spent 730 days crafting the recipe for its No.3 London Dry Gin, which also featured input from Dukes Bar’s Alessandro Palazzi. The gin is made with six botanicals, including grapefruit peel, orange peel, coriander and cardamom. One of the gin’s key serves is a Martini (see recipe below), but it also recommended in a G&T or a Negroni.
Ingredients:
60ml No.3 London Dry Gin
10ml Dry vermouth / Dolin dry vermouth
1 lemon
Method: Stir over ice in a mixing glass and strain into chilled Martini glass.
Launched by The Reformed Spirits Company in 1999, Martin Miller’s Gin is distilled in pot stills in England and shipped to Iceland, where it is mixed with Icelandic spring water.
To make a Martini according to Martin Miller’s, see the recipe below:
Ingredients:
60ml Martin Miller’s Gin
5ml Dry vermouth
Method: Shake or stir over ice and pour into a Martini glass. Garnish with olive or twist.
Marian Beke of The Gibson bar in London’s Shoreditch unveiled his savoury-led gin in 2018, in partnership with Belgium’s Copperhead Distillery.
The expression was made with five Copperhead botanicals, along with 13 spices traditionally used in pickling such as pepper, allspice and fennel.
The Gibson Martini can be traced back to the early 1900s at Players Club in New York City where artist, Charles Dana Gibson, allegedly challenged bartender Charles Connelly to make a new variation on the classic Martini. His signature twist was to replace the olive with a silver onion, a move that established the Gibson Martini in cocktail history.
To make a Gibson Martini, see Beke’s recipe below:
Ingredients:
1 silver skin pickled onion
65ml Copperhead Gin Gibson Edition
5ml Dry vermouth
Method: Pour all of the ingredients into a mixing glass, add cubed ice and stir for around 30 seconds to achieve the desired dilution. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Thread the onion onto a cocktail stick and add to the drink as a garnish.
Sipsmith’s classic London dry gin is made with botanicals including Seville orange peel, orris root, angelica root, Spanish ground almond and cinnamon bark. The brand believes it offers the perfect Martini base as it is “clean, dry and full of juniper” rather than gins that tend to be more sweeter or floral.
Ingredients:
50ml Sipsmith London Dry Gin
10ml-15ml Vermouth
Lemon twist
Method: Fill a mixing glass with ice, add the vermouth and stir for a few seconds. Add the gin to the mixing glass and stir briskly for 50 turns. Strain into a chilled glass and garnish with a lemon twist.
Scottish gin brand Isle of Harris has worked with leading bartenders across the UK to craft Martini recipes as part of The Martini Project. The gin is infused with local, hand-harvested sugar kelp which offers “subtle coastal notes”.
Ingredients:
75ml Isle of Harris Gin
10ml Cinzano Extra Dry Vermouth
2-3 Drops of Sugar Kelp Aromatic Water
White grapefruit
Method: Peel a long sliver of white grapefruit and then set aside. Fill a mixing glass with ice, then add Isle of Harris Gin, vermouth and Sugar Kelp Aromatic Water to a mixing glass. Stir with a bar spoon for 60 seconds until thoroughly chilled. Julep strain the mixture into a chilled Martini glass. Pinch and roll the grapefruit peel to express its oils over the surface of the spirit. Add the peel to the drink as a garnish.
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