Chin Up, a new Lower East Side cocktail bar that opened this week at 171 Chrystie Street, is staking its entire identity on the idea that gin, long treated as a supporting character, deserves to headline the menu. The bar comes from industry veterans Brian Grummert and Blake Walker, whose experience includes beloved New York spots like Nitecap and Amor y Amargo.
If you didn't know, gin is in. Consumers are looking for premium-quality, craft liquor options with a unique flavor profile. They are interested in liquors that use non-traditional botanicals that bring a sense of place, highlighting local terroir by using regionally sourced ingredients, summarizing the basis of modern gin. The Distilled Spirits Council of the United States reports that in 2024, distillers generated nearly a billion dollars in gin sales, with the super-premium category thriving, increasing by 187% since 2019.
Given that I live right next to the world's oldest non-stop gin distillery, I have long admired this classic spirit. I present this list with no bias, as one of the brands from my local G&J Distillers has the misfortune of making an appearance here. When it comes to organizing your home bar, gin is an easy spirit to get wrong.
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.
The UK's Food and Drink Federation recently released data on imports and exports for the first half of 2025 - and it sure looks like Americans are picking up more of a taste for imported gin. Placing ninth on the Federation's list of top 10 exports for the first six months of 2025 was gin, with the volume shipped up 6.3% from a comparable period in 2024. The value of this gin was also up significantly from the same period last year - specifically, by 17.6%.
Will Thompson isn't terribly impressed with the state of gin these days. When the owner of Sunny's in Miami goes out on the town in search of a Martini, he often faces a bit of a dilemma. "I look at the backbar and there's six gins that I think all taste kinda like shit," he says. He feels there's been a downturn in overall gin quality and proof level.
