Why You Should Try The World's Best Gins From The New York World Spirits Competition

"You could feel that in New York this year, where the 2025 New York World Spirits Competition handed Lighthouse Gin the Best of Class Gin trophy and set two very different bottles alongside it as finalists: Devil's Grin Gin and Tanqueray No. TEN. Together, they outline where the category is headed-precision on one side, layered regional character on the other, and a benchmark that reminds everyone what classic balance feels like in the glass."

"In the U.S., gin isn't exploding so much as evolving. Americans bought 8.3 million nine-liter cases in 2024, worth roughly a billion dollars at the distillery level, with growth concentrated at the top. Super-premium sales have increased by 187% since 2019, reaching nearly 700,000 cases, while the mass market remains flat. Abroad, mature strongholds like the U.K. and Spain have cooled, but premium-plus is gaining in the U.S., France, Japan, and India (+8% in India last year; +31% at the top end in Japan)."

"The distillery relies on pristine spring water from the Remutaka Range and a carefully curated botanical set, led by hand-zested Yen Ben lemons, supplemented by navel orange, juniper, coriander seed, almond, cassia, cinnamon, licorice, and orris root. Bottled at an approachable 80 proof it's a lesson in subtlety. The citrus reads like real fruit rather than perfume, the spice stays disciplined, and the finish glides clean."

Gin's resurgence stems from distillers emphasizing place and process to produce distinctive flavors. The 2025 New York World Spirits Competition awarded Lighthouse Gin Best of Class, with Devil's Grin and Tanqueray No. TEN as finalists representing precision, layered regional character, and classic balance. U.S. sales reached 8.3 million nine-liter cases in 2024, about a billion dollars at distillery level, with super-premium up 187% since 2019 to nearly 700,000 cases while the mass market is flat. Premium-plus growth appears in the U.S., France, Japan, and India. Lighthouse Gin from Martinborough uses Remutaka spring water and curated botanicals, yielding subtle citrus, disciplined spice, and a clean finish that tightens martinis.

Read at Forbes