9 best Christmas gins to try
Check out our best Christmas gins to try this festive seasons, plus our own Christmas gin recipe to make at home
Want to try a Christmas gin? Looking for a Christmas gift for gin lovers? We've found the best spiced gins to buy for Christmas, from festive citrus spins on classic editions to spiced liqueurs perfect for sipping. Use any of these special Christmas gins to make a festive cocktail to impress at a Christmas party. Plus, try out our homemade Christmas gin recipe at the bottom of the page.
Want to discover more unique gins? Try our best gins, favourite Scottish gins, Welsh gins, flavoured gins and British gins, or travel the world from your home with our unusual international gins. For a sunny boost to your G&T, check out our round up of citrus gins.
Best Christmas gins to buy at a glance
- Best spiced Christmas gin: Whitley Neill Oriental Spiced Gin, £25.99
- Best winter gin: Junimperium Winter Edition Gin, £41.95
- Best Christmas gin liqueur: Reverend Hubert Winter Gin Liqueur, £33.94
- Best for a festive martini: Boatyard Old Tom Gin, £38
- Best citrus Christmas gin: Whitley Neill Blood Orange Gin, £20
- Best for a negroni: OPIHR European Edition, £24.99
- Best Christmas gin for a G&T: Pickering's 1947 Gin, £28.40
- Best flavoured Christmas gin: Slingsby Marmalade Gin, £27.17
- Best subtle Christmas gin: Darnley’s Spiced Gin, £33.74
Best Christmas gins to buy 2023
Whitley Neill Oriental Spiced Gin
- Available from Amazon (£25.99), Tesco (£28)
Best spiced Christmas gin
This spiced gin uses botanicals including cumin, ginger, and star anise to give the spirit its distinct, bold flavour. Pair with an unflavoured tonic to experience its rich, savoury notes, or try in a festive negroni.
Available from:
Amazon (£25.99)
Tesco (£28)
Junimperium Winter Edition Gin
- Available from Master of Malt (£41.95)
Best winter gin
Complete with attractive juniper wood stopper, this rose-tinted Estonian gin is just made for chilly nights. On the nose it’s subtly herbaceous, with a peppery hit of coriander and vanilla notes. There are berries, too – it’s flavoured with an unfiltered lingonberry infusion. As well as wintery spice (including cardamom and cassia bark), it tastes smooth, creamy and decadent – like crème anglaise. Drink with tonic, a sprig of rosemary and a cinnamon stick.
Available from:
Master of Malt (£41.95)
Reverend Hubert Winter Gin Liqueur
Best Christmas gin liqueur
Slightly syrupy, gently spiced, and lifted by the scent of organic citrus (sourced from the Amalfi coast), this warming, amber-coloured tipple tastes like a cross between sloe gin and ice wine. It’s the kind of late-night drink we’d reach for as soon as autumn hits, either on its own (relish those pure, dried fruit flavours) or as part of a hot toddy with hot water, honey and fresh lemon juice.
Boatyard Old Tom Gin
Best for a festive martini
A beautifully packaged, cask-aged Irish gin that comes flavoured with Fermanagh honey. This comes through on the nose and palate, as do notes of hay, cocoa, vanilla and spice. Sip on its own, or try it in a martini.
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Whitley Neill Blood Orange Gin
- Available from Amazon (£20), The Whisky Exchange (£27.75)
Best citrus festive gin
This fragrant number packs in lots of juicy citrus – with dryness from Sicilian blood oranges that pairs well with the gin, and subtle notes of orange peel and pepper. Try it with fresh grapefruit juice and lime for a zesty paloma.
Available from:
Amazon (£20)
The Whisky Exchange (£27.75)
OPIHR European Edition
- Available from Master of Malt (£24.99), Amazon (£24.99)
Best for a negroni
OPIHR is one of olive’s go-to spiced gins and it has released new expressions that celebrate three different regions of the world – from Europe and Arabia to the Far East. Its European edition, wonderfully soft on the palate, is a warming, subtly savoury affair with woody, earthy spice. Try mixing with Campari and sweet red vermouth for a spiced take on a negroni.
Available from:
Master of Malt (£24.99)
Amazon (£24.99)
Pickering’s Original 1947 Gin
- Available from Master of Malt (£28.40), Amazon (£37.80)
Best Christmas gin for a G&T
Made using an old family recipe written in Bombay in 1947, this is a super-powered spiced gin with notes of cloves, cinnamon, anise and cardamom, and some subtle citrus. Soft, and almost creamy on the palate, with background sweetness and a long finish. Garnish with a slice of fresh orange in a G&T.
Available from:
Master of Malt (£28.40)
Amazon (£37.80)
Slingsby Marmalade Gin
- Available from Ocado (£36), Amazon (£27.17)
Best flavoured Christmas gin
This brand produces some of the best flavoured gins (try the rhubarb and gooseberry varieties) and its latest release uses Yorkshire marmalade to create a gin with well-balanced sweetness and fragrant tangerine-like orange notes. Drink with Fever-Tree Mediterranean tonic water and a twist of orange peel.
Available from:
Ocado (£36)
Amazon (£27.17)
Darnley’s Spiced Gin
- Available from Master of Malt (£33.74), Amazon (£41.07)
Best subtle Christmas gin
One for those who can find some spiced gins a little overpowering, this Scottish number has a subtle, restrained spice that’s balanced by juniper, with a lingering, peppery finish. Drink with ginger ale.
Available from:
Master of Malt (£32.24)
Amazon (£41.07)
Make our Christmas gin recipe here
Infuse your own gin with festive flavours (clementine, ginger and bay), wrap it up nice and give it to a special someone this Christmas. It's a unique and thoughtful gift that's really easy to make.
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