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GIN IN SPAIN IS A PHENOMENON, says Eugeni Brotons, global marketing director for Gonzalez Byass. Before the economic crisis all the trends were heading north of premium. As soon as the downturn really bit, all of the premium spirits categories fell away, except gin.

“Gin has a very good image. It is seen as healthy,” he says. “Spain is a hot country so G&T is refreshing. The Spanish are a very social people. We like to talk and relax. A gin and tonic allows us to do this. We drink it as an aperitif and after dinner as a digestif.

“There is a lot of tradition around a G&T. There is a ritual in the bar. It was the only product that could keep being premium by meeting everyone’s needs.

“It may not be sexy to say it but gin & tonic is functional,” says Brotons.

But it was around the mid-2000s that William Grant’s Hendrick’s came on the scene along with the likes of Bombay Sapphire, very much representing the new generation of gin brands. It was quickly followed by the likes of Gonzalez Byass’s London Number One, G’Vine, Martin Miller’s and Gin Mare.

Nacho Martinez, a well known Madrid head bartender and trainer, currently stationed at the city’s Hard Rock burger restaurant, takes up the story. “In the past six or seven years there has been a fashion for gin. It used to be Larios with cola or Pomada Xoriguer gin from Menorca with Fanta lemon.”

Israel Gomez Moreno, head bartender and sommelier at Palacio de Tepa, Madrid, adds: “About 10 or 12 years ago, no one except old people and waiters drank gin and then it was not all good quality. Then there was Larios, GinMG, Gordon’s and Beefeater and Tanqueray. It was not a young person’s drink. Now it is cool to drink gin and tonic.

“But then, about 10 years ago, the Spanish Bartenders Association set about trying to come up with the perfect G&T – started to chill the glass, use the best ice cubes, garnish. We started to take care with every step of the drink.”

The oversized glass, packed with ice, garnished with lemon and running tonic down the twizzle stick – the height of sophistication. This was the drink to be seen with.

It has even come down to specifying the accompanying tonic as well. Martinez pulls out Fever-Tree, Fentimans and Pepsico’s Blue Tonic as the most requested tonics in his bar.

Asked whether cocktails, such as the gin classic Negroni, are popular in Spain, Martinez replied: “Only with Italian people but over the past three years we have been doing more and more cocktails. Mojito is the favourite and the bar does its own gin version made with Number One, called Magic Mojito.”

Brotons confirms: “Cocktails are huge in London and New York but small in Spain. There are maybe 10 bars in Madrid specialising in cocktails. Barcelona: maybe five bars.”

Gomez Moreno agrees: “Spain has no real cocktail culture. We are quite far away.”

But while the G&T reigns supreme as the drink to be seen with, the fact is that many people, particularly younger women, do not actually like the bitterness of the tonic and the drying aftertaste. The solution: people have started adapting and personalising the offering, adding tomatoes and cinnamon, “prostituting the gin & tonic”, according to Brotons.

And along comes Puerto de Indias, a 37.5% strawberry-flavoured gin from Sevilla which has had a significant effect on mainstream, more premium brands and inspired other sweet, flavoured gins. Even Charles Maxwell back in the UK and maker of Byass’s London Number One, acknowledges the effect of this strawberry gin on the main gin market. He comments that while he sees growing interest in gin from around the world in terms of enquiries, enquiries from Spain have severely tailed off.

SUPREME DRINK

So as the glorious G&T sits supreme on its pedestal, swirling around its fringes are cheaper, weaker pseudo gins chiselling away at its base.

Beefeater is a huge mainstream brand in Spain. Even master distiller Desmond Payne noticed the blip. “Spain seems to have slowed down but it is still vibrant and other markets are growing,” he says, optimistically.

On these strawberry gins, Gomez Moreno says: “These are for people who never really drink gin & tonic. They like the trend but do not like the citrus or dryness. They want sweetness.”

Asked about Puerto de Indias, Brotons comments: “All the girls like it.” Gonzalez Byass’s response? Mom gin, a 39% more premium alternative. At around €21, it is more expensive than Puerto and its subsequent me-toos. Following the English theme that has been so successful for London Number One, the raspberry flavoured gin has ‘god save the gin’ and ‘royal smoothness’ on the label.

For Gonzalez Byass, London Number One has been very successful. At 47%, it boasts one of the highest juniper contents at approximately 70%, along with other botanicals including angelica root, cinnamon, lemon, cassia bergamot, orris and almond.

Brotons claims the brand has gone from an initial 10 countries to 60 in 10 years. Its major markets are Germany, the UK, US, Australia and Belgium.

For brand building in Spain, bars and clubs remain crucial to success. With approximately 250,000 bars it represents 28% of the total drinks market in Spain by volume but 54% in value. Spirits are 1.6% in volume but 15.9% in value.

Gonzalo Medina, international marketing director for Spanish producer Bodegas Williams & Humbert, has another slant. He says: “In our case, the premium line is doing very well. We used to have a handful of gin brands until 1995 – nowadays there are a few hundred on the market.

“Gin production is developing strongly. Not all newcomers will survive but the majority of premium gins are here to stay. As time goes by consumers are more and more interested in the narrative behind making the spirits themselves and their history.

“Williams & Humbert is of the opinion that the consumer is looking for the simple perfect serve, with a discrete but delicate garnish allowing the gin to shine and not overpower it,” he says.

W&H’s Botanic brand boasts as a botanical buddha’s hand, a variety of citrus sourced locally. It is also using it as a garnish. Fragmented in sections that look like fingers, the plant has a thick skin and only a small quantity of acidic pulp. No juice or seeds. Medina says it is very fragrant and not as bitter as other citruses, with a roundedness that is “incomparable to any other fruit”.

As to trends in botanicals and personalising G&Ts, Medina says: “More than a specific tendency to the botanicals we think the key is in finding which make your gin magical. In our case, we also offer the buddha’s hand in a vaporisateur.

“Many people have never heard of buddha’s hand so it’s an efficient and fun way to introduce them. We recommend using it as a finishing spray over a Botanic gin and tonic, just before serving. The aroma will linger on the surface and bring a wonderful sensation in the nose, thus preparing the brain for a fresh and balanced libation.

“You can spray it on the stem of your glass and your guest will enjoy the aroma on his hand after he has lifted his glass,” adds Medina.

So the G&T may be the El Cid of premium drinks in Spain but Brotons and Gonzalez Byass have adopted the tried and trusted tactic: “If you can’t beat ’em, join ’em” as regards these sweet, fruit-flavoured gins, which are arguably flavoured vodkas dressed up as gin. Hence Mom.

Could its strapline be prophetic? ‘God save the gin.’