Loco Over Local Gin

In a drinks market inundated with world-class spirits, Don Mendoza explores the need for Singapore-branded gins.

- Don Mendoza

By industry standards, the rules that define and regulate what gin is and how it is made are arguably one of the most relaxed. Granted, popular labels have over time helped define the spirit’s traditional, or more common, taste profiles (or styles of gin), but unlike any other category of spirits, gin continues to inspire more creative interpretations.

The last few years have been some of the most exhilarating for lovers of craft spirits, in particular this juniper berry-based option. And it is possibly the same growing significance of products with provenance we have seen in the world of gastronomy that has fuelled a desire for more local gin.

A few brands have made their mark in the past three years, but until the launch of Tanglin Gin in June this year, there were no bespoke gins distilled in Singapore. “The rise of gin (in Singapore) is in my view directly connected to the rise of cocktails,” shares Andy Hodgson, one of four brand owners behind the nation’s first locally distilled gin, which boasts the dendrobium orchid among the 11 botanicals carefully chosen to “represent the cultures and flavours of the city”, including coriander seeds, liquorice root, cassia bark and amchoor (Indian dried mango powder).

“I guess we’ve seen for some time the demand in the local market for a gin (or even just a spirit) that Singapore can be proud of and celebrate on an international stage,” he continues.