WHAT MAKES A GIN PREMIUM? 7 THINGS WORTH KNOWING

What makes one gin premium and another simply… gin?

Price certainly isn’t the whole story. Neither is a beautiful bottle, an exotic botanical you’ve never heard of, or the number of times somebody tells you it has been distilled.

The difference usually lies in a collection of smaller details: the quality of the base spirit, the botanicals, how those flavours are extracted, the water, the distiller’s decisions, balance in the glass and, yes, sometimes the bottle itself.

Here’s what to look for next time you’re choosing a gin.

1. IT STARTS BEFORE THE BOTANICALS: THE BASE SPIRIT

Gin begins with alcohol of agricultural origin, but not every producer starts in quite the same place.

Most use a clean grain-based neutral spirit because it creates a blank canvas for juniper and other botanicals. Others deliberately choose a base that contributes character of its own.

⁠Nordés Gin at COVE 27 is a fascinating example. Instead of a conventional grain base, it uses a spirit derived from Galician Albariño grapes, contributing to the silky, aromatic personality of the finished gin.

Closer to home,  ⁠Awildian Coromandel Dry Gin at COVE 27 starts with sugarcane spirit, while its producer uses maceration for robust botanicals and gentler vapour extraction for delicate ingredients such as rose and lavender. 

Premium clue: Look for producers who can tell you not only what their gin contains, but why they’ve chosen each part of it.

2. BOTANICALS MATTER — BUT MORE ISN’T ALWAYS BETTER

Juniper is the defining flavour of gin, but beyond that lies an extraordinary botanical playground: citrus peel, coriander, roots, flowers, herbs, spices, tea, fruit and native plants.

Quality, freshness and balance matter more than simply having a huge ingredient list.

⁠No.3 London Dry Gin at COVE 27 uses just six botanicals, meticulously balanced around juniper, citrus and spice. At the opposite end of the spectrum, Monkey 47 famously works with 47 botanicals. Both approaches can produce exceptional gin.

Then there are gins that express where they come from.  ⁠KI NO BI Kyoto Dry Gin at COVE 27 brings distinctly Japanese ingredients such as yuzu, gyokuro tea and sanshō pepper into the glass, while  ⁠Four Pillars Rare Dry Gin at COVE 27 combines traditional botanicals with Australian lemon myrtle, Tasmanian pepperberry and whole fresh oranges. 

Premium clue: Don’t count the botanicals. Ask whether they create something distinctive, balanced and delicious.

3. DISTILLATION IS ABOUT PRECISION, NOT A MAGIC NUMBER

You may hear that a gin distilled three, five or even more times must automatically be better.

Not quite.

Repeated distillation can create an exceptionally pure base spirit, but the number of distillations alone isn’t a quality score. What matters is how skilfully the distiller handles the spirit and botanicals.

Some ingredients respond beautifully to maceration; fragile flowers and citrus may benefit from vapour infusion. A skilled distiller also carefully selects the desirable heart of the distillation while rejecting less attractive fractions.

No.3, for example, takes only the heart of its botanical distillate before resting, filtering and proofing the gin to 46% ABV — a strength deliberately selected to carry its flavour in classic cocktails. 

Premium clue: Technique and judgement beat impressive-sounding numbers.

4. WATER ISN’T JUST THERE TO TURN THE ALCOHOL DOWN

Once distilled, gin generally needs water to bring it to bottling strength. With something so apparently simple, quality matters.

⁠Island Original Gin at COVE 27 uses triple-filtered rainwater on Great Barrier Island, while Awildian uses remarkably soft water from the Coromandel Ranges.  uses Fushimi water, a resource closely associated with Kyoto’s centuries-old sake culture.

Does that mean water from an exotic mountain automatically makes great gin? Absolutely not.

But attention to water is another indication that the producer is thinking about the entire liquid, rather than simply the headline botanicals.

5. PREMIUM GIN DOESN’T HAVE ONE FLAVOUR

This might be the most enjoyable part.

“Premium” isn’t a flavour profile.

A great gin might be classic and juniper-led, citrus-driven, floral, herbal, spicy, savoury or beautifully contemporary.

Nordés leans aromatic, floral and herbal. No.3 is crisp, juniper-forward and classically structured. Four Pillars Rare Dry bursts with citrus and spice. KI NO BI brings yuzu, tea and Japanese botanicals into an elegant, distinctly regional expression. 

None is inherently more premium because of its flavour.

The real question is: does everything feel intentional and in balance?

That’s also why exploring premium gin is so much fun. There genuinely is a style for almost every palate.

6. STRENGTH CAN TELL YOU SOMETHING — BUT BIGGER ISN’T ALWAYS BETTER

Alcohol carries flavour and aroma, so bottling strength can significantly change how a gin performs.

Higher-strength gin can offer greater texture and botanical intensity, particularly in a Martini or Negroni where the spirit needs to stand up alongside other ingredients. But 57% ABV isn’t automatically “better” than 40%.

The goal is balance.

No.3 settled on 46% after extensive development because its creators felt that strength best expressed the gin in cocktails. Awildian sits at 47%, while Nordés’ softer, aromatic style is bottled at 40%. Each decision serves a different gin. 

Premium clue: Look for a strength chosen to suit the flavour, rather than strength for strength’s sake.

7. AND YES, THE BOTTLE MATTERS

The liquid should always come first.

But premium spirits are experiences, and thoughtful design can be part of that experience — particularly when you’re gifting.

Few examples demonstrate this better than New Zealand’s Island Gin. Its extraordinary kina-inspired bottle is made locally from recycled glass, connecting the presentation directly to Great Barrier Island and the producer’s environmental philosophy. It has even earned independent design recognition. 

Nordés takes a completely different approach: its distinctive white-and-blue bottle draws inspiration from traditional Galician ceramics, visually connecting the gin to the place that inspired it. 

Good design doesn’t make mediocre gin premium.

But when the liquid, story and bottle all speak the same language, that’s when presentation becomes something more than packaging.

SO, WHAT ACTUALLY MAKES A PREMIUM GIN?

Perhaps the simplest answer is intentionality.

Quality ingredients. A clean, well-chosen base spirit. Botanicals selected for a reason. Thoughtful extraction and distillation. Good water. Appropriate bottling strength. Balance. Character. And presentation that reflects what’s inside rather than trying to compensate for it.

Small-batch doesn’t automatically mean better. More botanicals don’t automatically mean better. More distillations don’t automatically mean better. And a higher price certainly doesn’t guarantee better.

A truly premium gin is one where the details add up — and you can taste why they mattered.

SEVEN GINS, SEVEN DIFFERENT IDEAS OF PREMIUM

If you’re curious to taste those differences for yourself, these bottles from the COVE 27 cellar illustrate just how varied premium gin can be:

Nordés Gin — an Albariño-grape spirit base and aromatic Galician botanicals demonstrate how the foundation of a gin can shape its personality.

Island Original Gin — small-batch, off-grid New Zealand distilling, mānuka and bush honey, rainwater and its extraordinary kina-inspired recycled-glass bottle bring provenance, craft and design together.

Awildian Coromandel Dry Gin — micro-batch production, sugarcane spirit, carefully managed botanical extraction and Coromandel water demonstrate precision on a tiny scale.

No.3 London Dry Gin — only six botanicals, a traditional copper pot still and two years spent refining the recipe prove that complexity doesn’t require a long ingredient list.

Lind & Lime London Dry Gin — fresh lime peel, juniper and pink peppercorn show how a relatively concise botanical recipe can establish a clear, distinctive identity.

Four Pillars Rare Dry Gin — whole fresh oranges and Australian native botanicals demonstrate how innovation can sit comfortably alongside classic gin structure.

KI NO BI Kyoto Dry Gin — rice spirit, Fushimi water and separately distilled botanical groups including yuzu, tea and sanshō illustrate precision, provenance and a completely different cultural interpretation of gin.

They aren’t here because there is one “best” premium gin. Quite the opposite.

They show that there are many ways to make an exceptional one.

Curious to explore further? Our curated Premium Gin Collection brings together distinctive New Zealand and international producers, from timeless London Dry styles to contemporary botanical gins.