Is sugar allowed in gin?

Yes, European rules allow added sugar in gin. Regulation (EU) 2019/787 describes gin in Annex I as category 20 and names no maximum there for sweetening products.

What the regulation does lay down is what gin must be: ethyl alcohol of agricultural origin flavoured with juniper berries (Juniperus communis L.), with a taste that is predominantly juniper, and an alcoholic strength of at least 37.5 percent vol. Only flavourings and flavouring preparations may be used in production.

For many other categories, the regulation explicitly allows or prohibits sweetening. Whisky, for example, may not be sweetened, not even to round off the flavour, while for rum it states in so many words that sweetening is allowed to round off the flavour. For gin no such rule exists, because the legislator has left gin its own sweetening and labelling requirements in place.

A gin may be called ‘dry’ if no more than 0.1 gram of sweetening products per litre has been added, expressed as invert sugar. That is the only sugar limit for ordinary gin.

That limit is so low that no sweetness can be noticed. 0.1 gram per litre comes down to 0.07 gram in a 70 centilitre bottle. The term therefore says nothing about the amount of botanicals or about the flavour direction, only about sugar.

The very same requirement applies to distilled gin, category 21. There too, ‘dry’ may appear on the label only if the addition stays under 0.1 gram per litre. If there is no ‘dry’ on the bottle, the regulation sets no maximum.

Of the three gin categories, London gin has the most requirements. Sweetening is allowed up to a maximum of 0.1 gram of sweetening products per litre of finished product, expressed as invert sugar, and colouring is not allowed at all.

Furthermore, the drink must come exclusively from ethyl alcohol of agricultural origin, with a methanol content of at most 5 grams per hectolitre of alcohol of 100 percent vol. The flavour must come entirely from the distillation, in the presence of all the natural plant materials used. The distillate must contain at least 70 percent alcohol and nothing but the permitted ingredients and water may be added. The minimum in the bottle is again 37.5 percent vol.

Because the sugar limit is already part of the category itself, London gin may always carry the addition ‘dry’. That is how the designation London Dry Gin, which you see on many bottles, came about.

A sweetened gin remains gin as long as juniper is the main flavour and the alcohol content stays at least 37.5 percent vol. If it is sweetened much more, the drink ends up in the liqueur category.

Liqueur is category 33 in the same regulation. A minimum of 100 grams of sweetening products per litre applies to it, expressed as invert sugar, and a minimum of 15 percent vol alcohol. For cherry liqueur that minimum is 70 grams per litre, for liqueur of gentian or a similar plant 80 grams per litre.

Sloe gin is a well-known example. The regulation puts that drink in category 35: a liqueur made by steeping sloes in gin, optionally with sloe juice added, with at least 25 percent alcohol by volume. The label then says sloe gin and not gin, however gin-like the bottle may look.

The category on the label is the most useful signal: London gin and any gin with ‘dry’ stay under 0.1 grams of sweetening products per litre.

If the bottle says only gin or distilled gin, without 'dry', sweetening is permitted and the regulation sets no upper limit. In that case, ask us, and we will check with the importer or the distillery.

In het schap aan de Brink in Bathmen staan 240 gins met een alcoholgehalte van 37,5 procent vol of hoger, van 96 merken uit 18 landen. Het gehalte loopt daarbij van 37,5 tot 57,5 procent vol. Zoekt u juist een gezoete borrel, dan komt u eerder bij sloe gin of een gin-likeur uit dan bij een London dry gin. Wij verkopen geen alcohol aan personen onder de 18 jaar (NIX18).