Gin is a neutral spirit redistilled with juniper and other botanicals. That is the whole of it. The base carries almost no flavor of its own, the botanicals supply all of it, and federal law sets exactly two hard conditions: the spirit must taste principally of juniper, and it must be bottled at 40 percent alcohol by volume or higher. Everything else, the botanical list, the method, the proportions, is the distiller's decision.
That is why two gins made from the same four ingredients can taste nothing alike.
What is gin made from
Every gin is built from three things.
A neutral base spirit. Distilled at or above 95 percent alcohol by volume, which strips out nearly everything that would otherwise taste of its source material. Grain is the usual starting point, but the law permits any suitable material, and at that strength the difference is faint.
Water. Used to bring the finished spirit down to bottling strength. It is not a filler. Where the proof lands changes how much of the botanical aroma you actually perceive.
Botanicals. Juniper, which is mandatory, plus whatever else the distiller chooses. This is the entire flavor of the product, and it is the only part a brand really authors.
Note what is absent from that list: nothing is added for color, and in a properly made dry gin, nothing is added for sweetness. The color of a gin, where it has any, comes from the botanicals themselves.
Where the base spirit comes from
Before any of this, something has to be fermented.
Grain, usually wheat, corn, barley or rye, is milled and mixed with hot water so that its starch converts to sugar. Yeast is added, and over several days it turns that sugar into alcohol, producing a wash of roughly 8 to 10 percent. At that stage it is closer to beer than to spirit.
The wash is then distilled, normally in a column still, and taken past 95 percent alcohol by volume. Almost nothing of the original grain survives that, which is the entire point. What matters is not which grain was used, but how clean the spirit is when it comes off.
This is the step most gin writing skips, which is why the question of what gin is made from has two honest answers, depending on how far back you start.
Why the base is deliberately blank
A neutral spirit is deliberately blank. Distilling to 95 percent or above removes the congeners that give a whiskey or a rum its character, which is the point: the distiller wants a canvas, not a contribution.
This is also the honest answer to why gin and vodka start in the same place and end up in different bottles. They share a base. Gin then gets redistilled with juniper, and vodka does not.
A better base still matters. A cleaner spirit lets the aromatics sit in front rather than fighting through. Gatsby Gin is built on a neutral grain spirit distilled five times before any botanical touches it, and then run in small batches through a traditional copper pot still in Fort Myers, Florida.
The botanical bill: the four that do the work
Most gins, whatever the marketing says, are built on the same short backbone.
Juniper. Legally mandatory and structurally unavoidable. It brings pine, a dry resinous depth, and a bitterness that gives the spirit its spine. A gin whose main flavor is not juniper is not a gin, as a matter of law rather than opinion.
Coriander seed. The near-universal second botanical. Lemony and slightly nutty, it bridges the gap between the juniper and the citrus, and it is usually what people are tasting when they say a gin is bright.
Angelica root. The fixative that gives a gin length. It is dry and faintly savory on its own, and its real job is binding the volatile aromatics so they arrive together instead of one at a time. Take it out and the gin tastes short.
Orris root. The other fixative, and the one you will never identify in a glass. It holds the perfume together. It is the clearest example of a botanical that is doing essential work while being effectively invisible.
Those four are the reason gins resemble each other. What comes next is the reason they do not.
The supporting cast: citrus, spice and root
Beyond the backbone, the common additions are citrus peel, licorice root, cassia or cinnamon, and cardamom.
Citrus peel supplies the top note, the part of the aroma that reaches you before the glass does. Lemon carries acidity and lift, bitter orange adds a rounder, warmer weight underneath it.
Licorice root contributes sweetness without sugar and a rounder mouthfeel. It is why some dry gins finish soft despite having nothing sweet in them.
Cassia or cinnamon brings the warm spice. Cassia is a close relative of true cinnamon, hotter and less sweet, which is why it holds up against juniper rather than turning the spirit into a dessert note.
Cardamom adds a cool aromatic brightness that keeps the spice section from sitting heavy.
Past this point, distillers start reaching for the botanicals that make a gin recognizable as theirs: florals, roots, peppers, teas, and in Gatsby's case turmeric, which contributes color and a quiet peppery warmth in the finish. The full ten and what each one does are in behind the bottle: the ten botanicals in Gatsby Gin.
How gin is made: three ways to get the flavor in
There are three methods, and they are not equivalent.
Steeping and pot distillation. The botanicals are soaked in the neutral spirit, sometimes overnight, then the whole thing is redistilled in a pot still. This extracts the heaviest, deepest character and is the classic approach. Gatsby Gin is made in small batches in a traditional copper pot still in Fort Myers, Florida.
Vapor infusion. The botanicals sit in a basket above the liquid, and the alcohol vapor passes through them on its way to the condenser. The result is lighter and more floral, because the delicate aromatics are never boiled.
Compounding. Flavoring is added to neutral spirit without any redistillation. This is legal and it is still gin under the base definition, but it cannot be called distilled gin. That word on a label is a real claim rather than a flourish: under federal rules, "distilled" is reserved for gin made exclusively by original distillation or redistillation. It is one of the few words on a gin bottle that tells you something specific about how the liquid was made, and it is worth looking for.
Most distillers running either of the first two methods also cut the run, discarding the first and last fractions and keeping only the middle. The heads carry harsh volatiles, the tails carry heavy oils, and where you make those two cuts shapes the finished gin as much as the botanical list does.
How many botanicals a gin actually has
There is no legal answer. The law requires juniper and sets a minimum strength. It says nothing about a count.
In practice, counts run from a single botanical to several dozen, and the number is one of the least informative things on a label. Past a certain point botanicals begin to mask each other rather than add up, and a long list is as likely to signal indecision as complexity. What matters is whether each botanical is doing a job that would be missed if it were gone, and whether the proportions let the backbone through.
So the answer to "is more better" is no, and the answer to "how many should there be" is however many the recipe needs.
What this means in the glass
Once you know the structure, a gin becomes readable. The pine and the dry bitterness are the juniper. The bright, slightly nutty layer just behind it is the coriander. The citrus is the top note that arrives first and leaves first. The reason the whole thing holds together for several seconds instead of collapsing is the angelica and the orris, which you will never taste directly. Whatever is left over, the warmth, the florals, the spice, is the part the distiller chose.
Gatsby Gin is a ten-botanical build at 44.8 percent alcohol by volume, which sits meaningfully above the 40 percent floor and is part of why the aromatics carry. If you want to taste the structure rather than read about it, the art of the perfect serve is the place to start.
Frequently asked questions about how gin is made
What is gin made from?
A neutral base spirit, water, and botanicals. The base is distilled at or above 95 percent alcohol by volume so that it carries almost no flavor of its own, and the botanicals, led by juniper, supply all of it.
How is gin made, step by step?
A neutral spirit is redistilled with juniper and other botanicals, either by steeping them in the spirit before distillation or by passing alcohol vapor through them. The distiller keeps the middle of the run and discards the first and last fractions, then brings the spirit down to bottling strength with water.
How many botanicals are in gin?
There is no legal minimum beyond juniper. Counts range from one to several dozen. More botanicals do not make a better gin; past a certain point they mask each other rather than adding complexity.
Is gin made only from juniper berries?
No, but juniper is the only botanical required. US federal law says gin must derive its main characteristic flavor from juniper berries. Everything else is optional and chosen by the distiller.
Does gin contain sugar?
A dry gin contains no added sugar. The roundness people read as sweetness usually comes from licorice root or from the fixatives, not from sugar.
