Sam Wylie-Harris shortlists the best botanical infusions for G&T drinkers.

GIN is one of the few liquors rarely drunk neat and is distilled with botanicals, citrus fruits and fragrant herbs to develop its unique flavour profile and aromatics.

By law, these refreshing infusions must contain juniper berries and other botanicals such as coriander, angelica, and orange peel, and some recipes can notch up more than 12 flavour-enhancing plants and herbs.

Versatile and clean, gin contains the fewest congeners (the chemicals that cause a hangover) of all the premium spirits and could be the reason why gin palaces are increasingly in fashion, as a new generation of artisan distillers brings gin back to the cocktail darling it used to be in the 1920s, with a resurgence of martinis, fizzes, collins and classic G&Ts.

Indeed, according to the The International Wine & Spirits Competition (IWSC) 2014 which has just announced this year’s winners, “the global gin phenomenon shows no sign of slowing down, with 20 countries from around the world being awarded a medal or trophy for its gin”.

Here’s our own pick of the best.

The iconic blue bottle of Bombay Sapphire Dry Gin (£21.70, 70cl, Tesco) is consumed in vast volumes thanks to its fresh, smooth palate which always tastes so refreshingly good in a G&T. Ten botanicals pass through a delicate distillation process called vapour infusion and the result is a gin that’s lighter than other London Dry styles, with a soft, delicate, uplifting taste with appealing aromatics on the finish.

More potent and exotic with loads of spice, juniper, cumin and cardamom, Opihr Oriental Spiced Gin (£30, www.harveynichols.com) – pronounced o-peer – is a London Dry Gin with a spicy, rich, sweetish palate and lingering herby, peppered finish that lends itself to a gin-based bloody Mary, otherwise known as a red snapper.

The ornate jewel-cut bottle of Bloom London Dry Gin (£28.30, 70cl, Waitrose) is equally pleasing on the eye but this delicate infusion will seduce the taste buds with attractive camomile, pomelo and honeysuckle notes alongside other pleasurable botanicals. A light, floral gin that’s inspired by the female distiller’s English country garden, serve Bloom with tonic and a few strawberries.

Further afield and based on a formula designed to capture ‘the essence of an epicure’s Mediterranean’, Gin Mare (£32.60, 70cl, Waitrose) is a top-notch Spanish gin from a small village outside Barcelona. Defined by four key botanicals sourced from Mediterranean countries, there’s arbequina olive from Spain, thyme from Greece, basil from Italy, and rosemary from Turkey. Bursting with freshness, the appealing aromatics of rosemary and basil are balanced by a tang of tomato plants and olives. Add a sprig of rosemary to a large wine glass, top with tonic, and it’s the closest thing to drinking that well-earned holiday G&T...