The Three Brothers Bathtub Gin

Macerating and infusing botanicals in finished spirit, rather than redistilling with them, is what the bathtub method means, and it is why this gin comes out golden instead of clear. The Three Brothers work that way in Lebanon, at 40%, on a recipe of twenty-two botanicals: juniper and twenty-one others. The company belongs to the Malak brothers, who work between Smar Jbeil and Beirut, and the recipe is a portrait of the country rather than a nod to it.

Citrus · Woody · Spicy · Floral · Fruity

The list is what makes it unusual, because almost all of it is Lebanese. Carob fruit and jujube bring a dark, dried-fruit sweetness that no citrus gin has. Olive leaves, cedar leaves, pine bark and hawthorn leaves account for the woody, resinousResinousAn aroma reminiscent of pine or fir resin. It is juniper's signature, due to compounds such as pinene.Glossary side, and together they read as Mediterranean woodland rather than as a spice cabinet. Pistachio adds a nutty weight. Red apple and grapefruit supply the fruit, one round and one bitter, and grapefruit peel sharpens the top. Rose petals and lavender lay a floral layer across the middle. Coriander seed keeps things fresh, cinnamon warms them, and juniper supplies the frame that keeps it a gin. Cinnamon is the one ingredient that comes from outside the country.

Compounding leaves more of all that in the bottle than a still would, so the texture is fuller and the colour deeper. Competition tasters have found mint and aniseed impressions, warm wood, coconut, ripe fruit and clear juniper. World's Best Compound GinCompound ginGin made without redistillation, by blending botanicals or extracts into neutral spirit.GlossarySee Compound gin gins at the 2022 World Gin Awards, and Lebanon Country Winner in 2024.

Pour it over plenty of ice with a neutral Indian tonicIndian tonicThe classic tonic: sparkling water, bitter quinine and sugar. The name recalls colonial India, where quinine warded off malaria.Glossary or a dry Mediterranean one; anything heavily sweetened flattens the woodland half of the recipe and leaves only the fruit. Grapefruit peel is the garnish with a real claim, since it is already in the bottle.