Hendrick’s Gin (Gift Box) 41.4%

Hendrick's comes from the Girvan distillery on Scotland's Ayrshire coast, where William Grant & Sons take a deliberately contrary route. Small batches are distilled twice over, once in a delicate Carter-Head still and once in a robust pot still, then blended so neither voice dominates. The two signatures everyone remembers, Bulgarian rose and cucumber, are infused after distillation rather than cooked into the spirit, which is why they read so fresh and true. This bottling arrives boxed with a measuring cup for the well-dressed home bar.

The nose is floral and cool, cucumber to the fore with a whisper of spice behind. On the palate it stays soft and balanced, the rose lending perfume while juniper holds the structure, and the finish is clean and long. Build it into a gin and tonic with a few ribbons of cucumber rather than the usual lemon, the way it was always meant to be served.