Fifty-seven per cent is not an arbitrary figure here. Colombo No.7 Ration is bottled at 57% to recreate the gin rations served to the Royal Navy's East Indies Station, based in Colombo during the Second World War, and the name carries the same reference.

The recipe follows the original Colombo No.7, built on seven spices and botanicals, four of them native to Sri Lanka: cinnamon bark, curry leaves, ginger root and coriander seeds, joined by juniper, liquorice and angelica. The Ration version adds an extra helping of curry leaves for more spice. Curry leaf is the defining botanical, green, savoury and slightly citrus-like, with an aroma closer to a fresh herb than to the curry powder its name suggests. Sri Lankan cinnamon brings a sweet, delicate warmth, ginger a dry heat, and coriander its bridge between citrus and spice.

At navy strength, those four local botanicals carry a long way. Juniper, liquorice and angelica give the frame and the roundness, and the high alcohol keeps the spice defined under dilution rather than letting it fade. The bottle has been recognised at the highest level: at the Concours Mondial de Bruxelles 2025 it received a Grand Gold medal and the Revelation Gin Trophy, which named it the World's Best Gin.

This is a gin for stirred, spirit-forward drinks. Its recommended pairing is sweet vermouth and a bitter aperitif, in the style of a Negroni, where the extra strength and the curry leaf hold their own against the bitterness. Finish with a strip of orange peel and a single curry leaf, which releases its green, savoury aroma as soon as it touches the drink. Stir it over ice rather than shaking, so the curry leaf stays clear and the drink keeps its weight.