Booth's Gin is a once well-known and widely consumed make of London dry gin, recently reintroduced after years of being unavailable. It was founded by a

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (), abbreviated ''Lincs'', is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands and Yorkshire and the Humber regions of England. It is bordered by the East Riding of Yorkshire across the Humber estuary to th ...

branch of the ancient

Booth family The Booth family was an English American theatrical family of the 19th century. Its most known members were brothers Edwin Booth, one of the leading actors of his day, and John Wilkes Booth, also a fellow actor most remembered for assassinating ...

in about 1740. Booth's Gin was most famously sold in distinctive hexagonal glass bottles. Its paper labelling alluded to the Red Lion

distillery Distillation, also classical distillation, is the process of separating the component substances of a liquid mixture of two or more chemically discrete substances; the separation process is realized by way of the selective boiling of the mixt ...

Clerkenwell Clerkenwell ( ) is an area of central London, England. Clerkenwell was an Civil Parish#Ancient parishes, ancient parish from the medieval period onwards, and now forms the south-western part of the London Borough of Islington. The St James's C ...

where the drink was originally produced, and to the

heraldic crest A crest is a component of a heraldic display, consisting of the device borne on top of the helm. Originating in the decorative sculptures worn by knights in tournaments and, to a lesser extent, battles, crests became solely pictorial after t ...

of the Booth family. Known as the "gentleman's gin", reputedly it was a favourite of both

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 19268 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. ...

, and the

Queen Mother A queen mother is a former queen, often a queen dowager, who is the mother of the monarch, reigning monarch. The term has been used in English since the early 1560s. It arises in hereditary monarchy, hereditary monarchies in Europe and is also ...

. English novelist and critic Sir

Kingsley Amis Sir Kingsley William Amis (16 April 1922 – 22 October 1995) was an English novelist, poet, critic and teacher. He wrote more than 20 novels, six volumes of poetry, a memoir, short stories, radio and television scripts, and works of social crit ...

(1922–1995) favoured Booth's as a mixer for

pink gin Pink gin was historically used to refer to a cocktail made fashionable in England in the mid-19th century, consisting of Plymouth gin and a dash of Angostura bitters, a dark red bitters that makes the whole drink pinkish. In recent years, the term ...

. The brand, owned by Diageo Spirits, was by the 21st century only produced in the United States and ceased production in 2017. In November 2018, the brand was sold to the

Sazerac Company Sazerac Company, Inc. is a privately held American alcoholic beverage company headquartered in Metairie in the metropolitan area of New Orleans, Louisiana, but with its principal office in Louisville, Kentucky. The company is owned by William ...

. Sazerac recommenced production of Booth's Finest Old Dry Gin in the United Kingdom in 2022.

References

External links

''Difford's Guide'': "Booth's Gin"
Drink companies of the United Kingdom Gins Food and drink companies established in 1740 British companies established in 1740 Defunct companies based in London English distilled drinks Food and drink companies disestablished in 2017 British companies disestablished in 2017 2017 disestablishments in England 1740 establishments in England {{Distilled-beverage-stub

See also

References

External links