What is compound gin?

Compound gin is the technical term for gin that falls under category 20 of Annex I to Regulation (EU) 2019/787: flavourings in ethyl alcohol of agricultural origin, without redistillation.

The maker starts with agricultural ethyl alcohol of at least 96 percent. Juniper berries go into it, by soaking or by adding flavourings and flavouring preparations. The drink is then brought to strength with water. A second distillation does not come into it any more.

The flavour must predominantly be that of juniper. That is not a free choice of the maker, but a requirement of the category itself.

No, the word compound does not appear in the regulation; Annex I knows the names juniper-flavoured spirit drink, gin, distilled gin and London gin.

Compound is trade jargon. In English-language trade literature the word is used to distinguish gin from category 20 from gin that has been redistilled. You will therefore almost never see it on a label.

If a bottle says only the name gin, it does not have to have been redistilled. That is exactly what the word compound means in the trade.

The difference lies in the redistillation: category 20 may add the flavourings to the alcohol, category 21 must redistil with the botanicals.

With category 21, redistillation may be done in parts, after which the distillates are brought together again. Flavourings may still be added afterwards, but only to the distillate. London gin, category 22, goes a step further: redistillation with exclusively natural botanicals, and the drink may not be coloured.

All three categories require at least 37.5 percent alcohol. The redistillation is therefore the distinction, not the strength.

A gin must have at least 37.5 percent alcohol by volume; if a drink stays below that, the legal name gin may not appear on it.

For a spirit drink in general, the regulation uses 15 percent as the lower limit. Gin has its own, higher limit, and that applies equally to categories 20, 21 and 22.

The actual alcoholic strength by volume is always stated on the label. If you read less than 37.5 percent there, the legal name gin cannot be right and it is a different category.

Look at the legal name on the label: if it says only gin, redistillation was not required; if it says distilled gin, it was.

London gin or London dry gin points to category 22. The alcohol percentage is always stated alongside; if it is lower than 37.5 percent, the name gin cannot be right.

Words such as premium, handcrafted or small batch say nothing about the category. They are not in the regulation and therefore impose nothing on the producer.

A bottle is called a gin liqueur as soon as it does not meet the gin category, usually because it stays below 37.5 percent; liqueur is a category of its own in Annex I, with its own rules.

Sweetening alone does not make gin a liqueur. The designation dry does lapse, however: it may only be used if no more than 0.1 gram of sweetener per litre has been added, calculated as invert sugar.

Such a bottle can taste good, but it falls under a different legal name. Bear that in mind with a cocktail: a liqueur brings sweetness and a lower alcohol percentage.