Until about five years ago, gin wasn’t really seen as the trendy, modern, exciting thing it is today. It was something your mother-in-law might have had a bottle of, collecting dust next to the sherry and crème de menthe. But recent times have paved the way to a sort of gin renaissance – particularly in London – with new micro-distilleries giving the big, industrial producers a run for their money; people now talk about gin in the same way as single malt whisky. Twenty-four new distilleries opened in the UK in 2014, and it looks like a further twenty-five will open by the end of this year. Back in 2009, only four opened. So what’s caused this boom in gin production?

London has always had a relationship with gin, ever since William of Orange brought it over with him from Holland, where the spirit was first made. By the eighteenth century there was a gin distillery on practically every street in the city, making use of the exotic spices and fruits carried into port. But these were just used to cover up the taste of incredibly poor quality alcohol, being sold on the cheap to everyone in London. This became known as ‘The Gin Craze’ and in 1730 as many as ten million gallons of gin were being distilled each year. It was the root of all sorts of crime and very poor quality, so the government brought in the 1751 Gin Act to put an end to it.

This law put a serious dent in the distilleries’ profits and put moonshiners out of business. Eventually gin production ceased to exist in the capital. It wouldn’t return for nearly 200 years, but over those two centuries, gin underwent a transformation. The spirit changed from a cheap, harsh way of forgetting the troubles of Victorian life into a refined, complex spirit that’s treated with the respect it deserves. In-depth analysis of the botanicals included in a gin’s recipe, the distilling methods used, the provenance of the ingredients and – of course – the stories of the people at the forefront of this new wave of craft gin were becoming increasingly important.