By Dev Duggal

SALT (aka The South Asian Life & Times) entrusted me with this delightful task of trying out one dozen different gins – some established names and few recent entrants (all London dry gin variety) – and coming up with Top Three. I selected the three that were great every which way – straight up, G & T, or as a martini – they did not fail. For Tonic, I used Schweppes (in a ratio of one part gin to two parts tonic) because of its ease of availability – though I would have preferred the smoother Fever Tree. Results appear at the end of the article.

Having selected the Top Three does not mean we observe a three minute silence for the remaining that did not make it to my list – most were good – some with tonic, some with vermouth, and others on their own. I was, however, looking for names that held up to any eventuality – the rock solid, dependable, brave heart types – the gin-for-all-courses – including Bethpage Black.

Growing up in India meant growing up with gin – a colonial hangover. The British travelled with gin. They even named a military defensive line against the Japanese invasion of Hong Kong after the drink – Gin Drinker’s Line. It is not far from Gin Drinker’s Bay.