Best Australian gins to shop and savour in 2025

Best for: gin purists

This award-winning dry gin from Melbourne Gin Company is made with 11 botanicals, including juniper, coriander seed, honey myrtle, grapefruit and macadamia. Each botanical is individually distilled, then blended using a winemaker’s approach to create a classic well-rounded, smooth and slightly surprising gin.

When drinks expert and wine lecturer Max Allen and bartender Luke Ashton taste tested it for Gourmet Traveller, they shared:

On its own, this was one of the best gins in the tasting: a properly dry, superbly well-balanced and delicate aromatic mélange of subtle juniper, grapefruit and rosemary. “A really ‘ginny’ gin,” said Luke. “A very good ‘New World’ style.” But, oddly, we found it didn’t work with tonic – it was swamped – and it made a rather plain Martini. Perhaps with different mixers it would be better.

Also available at:

• $72, BWS

Best for: limited-edition flavour

White Possum collaborated with fellow Melbourne-based, specialist distillery That Spirited Lot to create this crisp and tangy gin.

“We wanted to keep it clean, crisp and complementary, so we figured a gin would be the best way to celebrate the humble green apple,” White Possum’s tasting notes state.

The result is a dry gin that celebrates apple in a very refreshing way – no added sugar means the apple flavour sings without becoming too much of a dessert in a drink. Although if that’s what you want, it would make a great addition to apple-based cocktails.

Best for: classic gin cocktails

Four Pillars is a popular Australian gin brand that’s received international acclaim, including at the Global Gin Masters 2024 where the Rare Dry Gin was awarded Gold (alongside seven other awards for the brand). It’s also a favourite for customers, with one who left a five-star review on First Choice Liquor describing it as a “Classic London Dry with a burst of citrus. Absolute winner with some tonic and a slice of cucumber.”

But for Gourmet Traveller‘s gin taste test, Max Allen and Luke Ashton had a few critical notes, stating “on its own, we weren’t all that impressed: there’s a whole heap of bold flavours hiding in here, and it’s quite round and sweet in the mouth, but it’s a bit indistinct and muddy.”

“We felt it really comes into its own as a big, bold G&T or martini,” they concluded – which echoes some of the more recent customer reviews. And considering the number of awards it has won over the years, this is a gin worth trying for anyone who considers themselves a connoisseur.

Also available at:

• $81, BWS

Best for: Mediterranean-style cocktails

If love a Negroni Sbagliato or a Hugo Spritz, Saint Juniper’s Mediterranean Gin should be a staple in your home bar. Infused with bright and sunny orange and lemon peel, alongside the Mediterranean’s famous savouries like green olive and sage, this gin is European summer in a bottle.

This gin took home gold for best contemporary gin at the 2024 Australian Gin Awards, cementing Saint Juniper as an Aussie distiller to watch. “Every sip of Saint Juniper tells a story of precision, quality, and craftsmanship, making it the perfect choice for those who appreciate premium spirits,” says founder and distiller, Paul Walton.

Best for: a fresh, citrus-based gin

The West Winds The Sabre combines a strong base of juniper and citrus with 10 botanticals, including wattleseed and lemon myrtle to add weight and further depth to the citrus notes. When Gourmet Traveller tasted it, Luke Ashton described it as having a “tantalising, shimmering” quality.

“This is a really refreshing gin,” he said, loving its zesty, citrusy purity. It makes a punchy and bold G&T, and a very delicious, bright, transparent, martini.

Best for: contemporary seafood pairings

Developed in collaboration with Society Restaurant in Melbourne, this gin is a celebration of the Australian coastline. It’s crafted with Kangaroo Island oyster shell, waxflower, Tasmania wakame, coastal daisy bush, saltbush and round mint, with a long and luxurious finish. Pair with one of our favourite fish recipes or use it for your next dry martini to give a contemporary gin twist to this classic cocktail.

“This gin is a mineral wonder, with less focus on juniper and more saline flavours, perfect for savoury cocktails or a olive Martini. It showcases the Australian coastline with Tasmanian wakame. No-one does it like Never Never,” one customer shared in a five star review on the First Choice Liquor website, where the handful of reviews were all five star when we checked.

Best for: sophisticated flavour

Archie Rose brings the east and west coasts of Australia together in this award-winning gin, which features eight individually distilled botanicals, including sunrise lime and Geraldton waxflower, both native to Western Australia, and Dorrigo Pepperleaf sourced from northern NSW.

“One of the best available Aussie gins at a great price point,” one customer shared in a five star review on BWS, where it has a four-and-a-half star average from over 40 reviews.

Also available at:

• $75, First Choice Liquor

Best for: complex flavour

Tasmanian gin brand Forty Spotted was awarded Gold in the 2024 World Gin Awards flavoured gin category for this Bush Honey Gin. It blends flavours of honey and rooibos tea with Tasmanian natives, including the essential juniper, for a warming gin with a balance of sweet, earthy and peppery flavour notes.

The World Gin Awards described it as “offering a warm, honey-forward taste with a drying finish reminiscent of rooibos tea. The nose is delightfully complex with sweet floral notes, while the palate balances balsamic and floral honey nuances. Its straw-pale hue precedes a floral, blueberry-scented bouquet, leading to a complex honey [flavour] that ends with a slightly bitter note.

Best for: Australian aged gin

This award-winning Manly Spirits gin is aged in whisky casks to create a hybrid spirit that’s ideal for those who want to savour their drinks on ice. It has light vanilla and oaky pine on the nose, with pepperiness at the end, and orange sweetness, dried fruit mid-palate and a dry light oak finish.

This gin has won a handful of awards, including Best Australian Matured Gin at the World Gin Awards in 2020, where they described it as having a “fresh nose with gin coming through, fresh on the palate, long-lasting finish of berries and wood.”

Best for: big, bold Australian flavours

Mt Uncle has based this gin on a 300-year-old London dry gin recipe, then substituted all the botanicals for Australian native equivalents. Tasting notes include vanilla, mango leaf and tea – from ingredients sourced locally in the Atherton Tablelands. There are also notes of peppermint gum, river mint, anise myrtle and a warming finish from pepper berry and ginger.

But this particular gin is best for people who want bold, unique flavour, with Gourmet Traveller‘s gin taste testers Max Allen and Luke Ashton stating: “while it is very powerful and unmistakably “Aussie”, the overriding impression is of a cacophony of aromas. It leaps out of the glass and makes a full-flavoured, if unsubtle and slightly coarse, G&T and martini.”

Based on the few reviews on First Choice Liquor, on the other hand, it could be the gin that brings people together. As one customer who left a five-star review said: “I [wasn’t] a fan of gin until I tried this… I’m now extending my palate, totally unlike any of the traditional gins.”

Best for: impressive cocktails

This highly awarded gin was created especially for negroni cocktails and includes the West African spice grains of paradise (also known as melegueta) and Indonesian cubeb or tailed pepper. It was the country winner in the 2020 World Gin Awards and has earned a spot on the awards list for every year since.

“This gin presents a green, leafy aroma with nettle, coriander, and cinnamon notes. The palate starts dry, complemented by orange citrus sweetness and a persistent rooty dryness,” the tasting notes read for the World Gin Awards in 2024, when it was awarded Bronze in the Contemporary Style Gin.

“Aromatic yet delicate, it offers a spicy, floral taste with herbal juniper, citrus, and cardamom. The nose is fruit-forward with citrus and pomegranate, ending with vegetal and rubber hints. Fruity esters dominate the mouthfeel, ending in a bitter, lingering aftertaste.”

Also available at:

• $88, Amazon