In the age of supermarket specials and “buy two get one free,” it’s easy to forget that gin — real gin — is an art form. You can find bottles at every price point, but when you pour a glass of true craft gin, you immediately taste the difference. And that difference doesn’t come cheap — because it’s not supposed to.
Every step in creating a premium gin costs more because it means more. The distiller’s botanicals are fresh, local, and often wild-harvested — not mass-dried or artificially flavoured. The water is filtered through ancient sandstone or drawn from Tasmanian springs. The base spirit is clean and neutral, usually distilled multiple times to ensure clarity before the first juniper ever touches it.
Then comes the heart of the craft: the still. Small-batch copper stills produce a fraction of what industrial columns do, but that limitation is exactly what gives artisanal gin its character. Every batch is tuned, tasted, and adjusted by hand — not pushed through by automation. And when a distiller chooses to use native ingredients like lemon myrtle, finger lime, or pepperberry, they’re often sourcing from small growers who cultivate for quality, not quantity.
The cost of all that attention adds up. But it also transforms the final product. A good gin lingers. It doesn’t burn. It evolves in the glass, revealing layers of citrus, spice, or soft florals. It reflects its maker — and the land it came from.
Cheap gin, on the other hand, is designed for volume and speed. Artificial flavouring replaces real botanicals; industrial neutral grain spirit replaces a crafted base. It may mix fine with tonic, but it won’t tell you a story.
At Craft Drinks, we believe every bottle has a voice — and the ones worth listening to are never the cheapest. When you buy a well-made gin, you’re not just paying for ingredients. You’re paying for skill, patience, and integrity. And that’s what makes the difference between gin that fills a glass and gin that fills a moment.
