Chemical ‘fingerprinting’ could change gin flavours as we know them

‘Fingerprints’ of gin can identify the compounds responsible for flavours and aromas, even revealing the origin of the juniper berries.  This is down to the use of nuclear magnetic resonance, or NMR, where spectroscopy could transform the industry’s understanding of the chemical compounds that define flavours and aromas.

Putting together the “children’s puzzle” of compounds that comprise a spirit could result in tighter regulation and standardisation, although industry players hope this could spark, rather than stifle, innovation.

Researchers from Heriot-Watt University and the University of Edinburgh published their new study in the Journal of Brewing and Distilling. Using NMR spectroscopy, they were able to identify separate isomeric forms within terpenes (the chemical compounds which define the characteristics of gins), allowing them to create a ‘fingerprint’ of the compounds responsible for flavour, aroma and mouth-feel.

Accurate identification of these terpenes has been previously near-impossible, with mass spectrometry being the most common analytical tool for gin.  The limitations have resulted in an industry of “smoke and mirrors”, according to Tom Warner, co-founder of Warner’s Distillery, as matters of “authenticity, quality of ingredients, and the graft and craft” have been defined by “various shades of grey.”

Excerpt taken from GlobalData, whose mission is to help its clients decode the future to be more successful and innovative.  To read the full article, please follow this link:

Our ‘Top Ten’ of the gins we have reviewed to date:

• 6 O’Clock
• G Gin
• Chemist American
• Beast
• Black Dog
• Gutsy Monkey
• Roku
• Obsession
• Twisted Nose
• Boë Scottish

‘Top Ten’ Gins for your hip flask

In June of 2022, we tried a bottle of Jaffa cake Gin, which was really very good and give us the idea to start this page.  I would immediately have put this tasty tipple into our ‘Top Ten’ of gins reviewed to date on our Home Page but would’ve had trouble deciding which to remove from the list.

Our rationale being that out of all the gin we’ve tried, gutsy tipples like Jaffa Cake and Whitley Neill’s Rhubarb & Ginger deserve their own space: warming gins that are as good, neat, as in a cocktail – to be enjoyed from a hp flask on a cold winter’s day on the sport’s field, on a boat in a Force 7, or beside a roaring fire after a wet walk with the dog.   And it’s something a bit different …

• Jaffa Cake
• Whitley Neill Rhubarb & Ginger
• Micil Spiced Orange
• Tanqueray Flor De Sevilla
• The Wrecking Coast Clotted Cream
• Copper in the Clouds Marmalade
• Chilli & Ginger – Aldi
• Aber Falls Marmalade
• Graveney London Dry