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Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/458161
www.cheersonline.com 10 • January/February 2015 The spirit's long-awaited comeback may be for real this time Next of Gin By Jack Robertiello C ocktail insiders have been saying it for years, but this time, maybe gin really is in. Interest in the classic cocktails, new products and different styles of gin are all helping to convince gin-shy consumers to give the botanical spirit another go. Craft cocktail bars where gin gets frequent marquee billing are no longer merely niche drinking spots. More mainstream restaurants are taking a chance on new style gins to enliven their beverage programs. What's more, establishments that thrive on a gin focus have become more common as many styles of gin—London dry, Genever, Old Tom, New Western—are attracting a new audience of younger drinkers. Even the hard-to-fi nd gin de mahon Xoriguer (made on the Spanish island of Menorca which was once occupied by Britain) is now available in the U.S. The return of gin was for a long time discussed in a persuasive or hopeful manner inside the bartender/spirits industry bubble, says Charlotte Voisey. A portfolio ambassador for William Grant and Sons, Voisey spent many years fl ogging Hendrick's gin across the country. "Now, I think we can safely say gin has defi nitely come back and found a way to survive by getting onto cocktail menus and getting into the consumer mind set," she says. Voisey is at least partly correct: The multiyear trajectory of more expensive imported gins has righted itself after a falloff following the Great Recession. Consumption of imported gin is up more than 3% last year, and over 10% since 2004, according to annual data published by the Beverage Information & Insights Group, the research unit of Cheers' parent company. But total gin consumption was down 1.8% in 2013, and domestic gins, which tend to be stronger off-premise, fell more than 4% last year—now below 7 million cases for the fi rst time in modern memory.