The super gins

Today, gin has gained status with the re-discovery and consumption of the classic gin martini by the martini-and-cigar set. The advent of the new super gins, such as Bombay Sapphire and Hendricks, reawakens images of platinum-blonde jazz babes, men in crisp tuxedos, unrestrained excitement and the speakeasy. A gin martini can instantly transform every woman into Jean Harlow and every man into Rudolph Valentino.

Gin makers, both domestically and internationally, have not rested on their laurels during the lull in gin’s popularity. Bombay Sapphire, which some credit for launching the super premium segment in the United States several years ago, is infused with 10 botanicals, including almonds, lemon peel, licorice, juniper, orris root and angelica root. In 2004, Bombay Sapphire enjoyed double-digit growth, inspiring others to launch premium gins.

Hendricks Gin, produced and owned by William Grant, of Glenfiddich fame, is quickly making a name for itself since its launch last October, becoming a worthy adversary to more established brands. Hendricks Gin boasts a staggering list of natural botanicals, including such unlikely candidates as rose petals and cucumber.

From medicine
to bathtub gin

As with most liquor, gin was originally made as a medication. Most libation historians consider Dutchman Franciscus de la Boe, also known as Dr. Sylvius, to be the “Father of Gin.” A professor at Holland’s University of Leiden, the good doctor attempted to create medicine for the prevention of kidney disorders by developing an alcohol-based medicine infused with the medicinal properties of the juniper berry.

This was revolutionary, because he used cheap and abundant grain as opposed to the expensive fruit-derived alcohol, the norm of that day. The oil of juniper was known to have therapeutic properties as an appetite stimulant, sedative, headache reducer and stomach soother, to mention just a few.

The Dutch called it jenever (juniper) and the French called it genievre, the latter being the name Dr. Sylvius gave to his new brew. Almost immediately, the medicinal drink became popular in Holland and other parts of Europe. There is some debate as to how gin was introduced to England, however. Most believe that British soldiers were the ones responsible for its introduction, witnessing its curative properties and dubbing it “Dutch courage.” It quickly became the popular drink, gin, and has since become a British staple.

Gin’s popularity was even given a lift by the religious politics of the day. In 1689, when William of Orange became King of England, he encouraged laws to hurt the Catholic French and aid the Protestant Dutch. He taxed French wines and liquors, but encouraged the import of Dutch gin. The British population responded with open arms.

By 1710, British consumption of alcohol was up to 19 million gallons, and it is estimated that 20 percent of households housed gin. Public intoxication was widespread, and gin became so abused that it was banned by an Act of Parliament in 1736. The law was overturned six years later, however, after it was discovered that contraband gin was considerably more lethal than the regulated spirit.

As Ansley Pair notes, “No other alcohol has such a sordid past.” English painter and engraver William Hogarth devoted dozens of his works to illustrating the corrupting effects of gin on the lower classes of London. Victorian novelists like Anthony Trollope made sure that every otherwise-respectable family had at least one member whose addiction to gin led to either bankruptcy or imprisonment. Female writers of that period often relied on a gin-soaked beast who would rob a heroine’s virginity, thus starting a process that would send a previously innocent woman on her way to prostitution, prison and eventual suicide.

The Industrial Revolution created a workforce that wanted to spend its wages in better surroundings than squalid gin shops. Large and fanciful gin palaces became all the rage, laying the foundation for today’s pubs and restaurants. Gin fell out of favor with the upper class until the latter part of the Victorian Era and the advent of the more sophisticated gin and tonic.

During the great cocktail rage of the ’20s and ’30s, gin was part of every self-respecting drinker’s repertoire. Throughout prohibition in the United States and Canada, bathtub gin became a common libation. Bathtub gin was made by placing a large quantity of low-quality spirit in a bathtub and adding juniper oil and other flavorings and letting it soak for a few days. Some contend that many outlandish cocktails of the Jazz Era owe their inspiration to disguising the disgusting taste of bathtub gin.

Gin is poised to take its rightful place on the front shelf of the bar; the South is ready to rekindle its love affair with this crisp, clean libation. Perhaps this is best illustrated by lines from the Golden Girls TV show, wherein irreverent Blanche Devereaux ponders, “I think that we mature faster in the South. Maybe it’s the heat?” The ever-witty Dorothy Zbornak quips back, “Maybe it’s the gin.”