Created in the late 1990’s, Broker’s Gin is a classic, big juniper gin that earns its place on any gin shelf, particularly if you are fan of the classic London Dry Gin style. Broker’s Gin is batch distilled using traditional botanicals such as juniper, coriander seed, cinnamon, cassia bark, liquorice, orris root, orange and lemon peel, angelica root and nutmeg. The end result is a classic old school gin, semi-sweet on the tongue with an interesting mixture of liquorice, spicy juniper and sweet citrus. The recipe itself is allegedly over 200 years old and all of the botanicals are steeped for 24 hours in a quadruple-distilled neutral grain spirit made from 100% English wheat. Broker’s Gin is available in several bottle sizes at 40% ABV and at 47% ABV and we would certainly recommend the latter. The copper pot still used for producing Broker’s Gin was manufactured by John Dore & Co, long recognised as one of the finest still-makers in the world. Langley’s Distillery also has a mini-still, which is used for making small batches of gin from different recipes and checking the quality of the new batches of botanicals. The bottle for ‘the gin for gentlemen’ was designed in the style of a 1930’s advertisement to capture the spirit and character of a bygone era. Quintessential Englishness is represented by the pin-striped, bowler-hatted gentleman (a broker) and the label text which is, like the gin itself, very dry. The bowler hat on the lid is a touch that some will love and others will hate. However, it probably represents Broker’s Gin best as it shows their paradox– the spirit is a no-nonsense classic London Dry, yet the bottle top hat and brand personality is all about serious but quirky humour. Perhaps this misalignment between brand and product is an explanation as to why Broker’s Gin, given that the liquid is good enough to be a big seller and it’s been available since 1998, isn’t that well known in many places (comparative to other independently owned gins that have been also around for over a decade).