Much like the rest of the UK, Wales has experienced its own gin boom in the last few years and now has a lively scene with distinctive, award-winning spirits that showcase everything from gins made with hyper-local botanicals to coastal creations. Here are a few of our favourites.
Want to discover more unique gins? Try our best gins, favourite Scottish gins, American gins, flavoured gins and British gins. For a sunny boost to your G&T, check out our round-up of citrus gins.
Want to really impress fellow gin lovers? Bring the bar to your home and store your favourite gins in our best drinks trolley ideas.
Best Welsh gins to try at a glance
- Best Welsh gin for a G&T: Brecon Botanicals Gin, £17.99
- Best savoury gin: Dà Mhìle Seaweed Gin, £37.95
- Best herbal gin: Wye Valley Gin, £41.95
- Best floral gin: Pollination Gin, £35.44
- Best sweet gin: Aber Falls Small Batch Welsh Gin, £45.01
- Best flavoured gin: Hensol Castle Blood Orange Gin, £30
- Best navy strength gin: Dyfi Navigation Gin, £46.95
- Best award-winning gin: Hensol Castle Welsh Dry Gin, £30
- Best gin liqueur: Aber Falls Gingerbread Gin Liqueur, £17.99
Best Welsh gins to try 2023
Brecon Botanicals Gin
Best Welsh gin for a G&T
Distilled with water from the Brecon Beacons National Park, this gin has notes of wildflowers with fresh citrus, balanced with warming spices, including cinnamon and cloves. It’s got plenty of body so would stand up well in a G&T with a wedge of orange.
Dà Mhìle Seaweed Gin
Best savoury gin
As well as its subtle green colour, hand-foraged seaweed adds a salty, funky edge to this off-beat gin. It’s super-smooth and fresh, with notes of mint that tingle on the tongue. The gin’s full-bodied nature means it would hold its own in a dirty martini, served with oysters for an extra briny hit.
Wye Valley Gin
Best herbal gin
Inspired by the woodland surroundings of the Wye Valley, this gin from Silver Circle Distillery is made using locally foraged botanicals, such as blackberry leaf, scots pine, sweet woodruff and linden flowers. There’s an earthily herbaceous character to the spirit, with an aromatic leafiness that would make it perfect for autumnal cocktails. Try in a negroni with Cynar.
Pollination Gin
Best floral gin
Featuring a complex blend of 29 different botanicals from the UNESCO Dyfi Biosphere, this award-winning gin has a headily herbaceous, floral profile – think wildflower meadow on a summer’s day. Use in a gimlet.
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Aber Falls Small Batch Welsh Gin
Best sweet gin
Piney juniper and lavender are surprise best pals in this subtly floral number with peppery notes adding to its complexity. One for those who prefer sweeter gins, try with tonic and a slice of cucumber.
Hensol Castle Blood Orange Zest Gin
Best flavoured gin
Bittersweet blood orange is the star of the show in this nicely balanced flavoured gin, bursting with sunny citrus notes, as well as juniper from the underlying base spirit. Try in a spritz with a wedge of blood orange.
Available from:
Master of Malt (£30)
The Dyfi Distillery Navigation Gin
Best navy strength gin
Made using foraged coastal botanicals, spices and rested in an ancient madeira cask, this barrel-aged, navy-strength gin (any gin at 57%ABV or more) is an incredibly complex affair. Briny, sea-breeze aromas segue into perfectly balanced layers of flavour, including savoury herbs, juniper and lemon. Delicious in a dirty martini or a gibson.
Hensol Castle Welsh Dry Gin
Best award-winning gin
Named best gin in Wales at the 2023 World Gin Awards, this is a juniper-led gin with a lovely floral backbone thanks to botanicals of lavender, marigold and jasmine, picked from the 400-year-old walled gardens that surround Hensol Castle, where the distillery is based. Try in a G&T with a lemon twist.
Available from:
Master of Malt (£30)
Aber Falls Gingerbread Gin Liqueur
Best gin liqueur
This sweet, indulgent liqueur smells exactly like gingerbread – think notes of ginger, cinnamon spice, and a creamy edge – with more of the herbaceous base gin coming through on the palate.
Available from:
The Bottle Club (£17.99)
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