The three core gin styles are London Dry, New Western, and Old Tom. London Dry is bone-dry and juniper-forward. New Western pulls the juniper back and lets citrus, floral, or herbal botanicals lead. Old Tom sits between them, lightly sweetened and rounder. Which one fits you comes down to whether you want pine in front or in the background.
London Dry: The Juniper Benchmark
London Dry is the style most people picture when they hear the word gin. Despite the name, it has nothing to do with London geography. It is a production designation, and a gin made in Pennsylvania, Scotland, or Spain can carry it as long as it follows the rules.
Those rules are strict. Every botanical has to go in during distillation, nothing artificial can be added afterward, and only a trace of sweetening is permitted. The result is dry, clean, and led by juniper, with citrus and spice playing support. If you want the classic pine-and-pepper snap that defines a proper gin and tonic or a dry martini, this is the style built for it. Tanqueray, Beefeater, and Sipsmith are widely available examples.
New Western: Juniper Steps Back
New Western, sometimes called contemporary or New American gin, is the style that opened the category up over the past two decades. Juniper is still legally required, since a spirit cannot be gin without it, but here it shares the stage instead of leading. Citrus, floral, cucumber, or herbal botanicals are pushed to the front.
Also Read - The 11 Most Common Gin Botanicals and What They Actually Contribute to Flavor
This is the style that won over a lot of people who thought they disliked gin. If juniper has always read as too sharp or too medicinal for you, a New Western bottle often changes your mind, because the pine sits in the background while something brighter leads. Hendrick's, with its rose and cucumber signature, is the example most drinkers know. Our own Butterfly Pea Gin leans this direction in spirit, built on a dry skeleton but layered with a botanical the classics never used.
Old Tom: The Sweeter Bridge
Old Tom is the oldest of the three and the one most drinkers have never tried. It dates to the 1700s and 1800s, and it sits between the malty richness of Dutch genever and the dry snap of London Dry. The defining trait is a touch of sweetness, sometimes from added sugar and sometimes from botanical choices that read sweet.
There is no legal definition for Old Tom, so producers interpret it loosely. What you can count on is a rounder, softer gin with less of the dry bite. It nearly vanished in the twentieth century and came back because bartenders rebuilding classic cocktails needed it. A Tom Collins or a Martinez was designed around Old Tom, and they taste flat when you swap in a bone-dry London Dry instead.
The Three Styles Side by Side
| Style | Flavor Lead | Sweetness | Typical ABV | Best Cocktail |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| London Dry | Juniper, dry and sharp | None to trace | 40–47% | Dry Martini, Gin & Tonic |
| New Western | Citrus, floral, or herbal | Usually none | 40–47% | Modern Highballs, Spritzes |
| Old Tom | Juniper, rounded and soft | Light | 40–44% | Tom Collins, Martinez |
These are tendencies, not hard borders. A New Western gin can still carry real juniper, and an Old Tom can run drier than expected. Treat the table as a starting map, not a rulebook, because the bottle in front of you always overrides the category on the label.
Which Style Should You Try First?
Run yourself through this quick path and let your own taste pick the bottle.
- Do you already love a classic gin and tonic or a dry martini? Start with a London Dry. You want the juniper backbone those drinks were built on.
- Have you always found gin too sharp or too "Christmas-tree"? Go New Western. The juniper steps back and a friendlier botanical leads.
- Do you like a slightly softer, rounder spirit, or are you chasing a vintage cocktail recipe? Reach for an Old Tom. The gentle sweetness fills out the drink.
- Not sure and you want the most flexible bottle for a home bar? Buy a London Dry first. It is the most versatile across cocktails, and once you know how you feel about juniper, you will know which direction to explore next.
None of these is a wrong answer. Gin is one of the few spirits where the style differences are large enough to genuinely change whether you enjoy the glass, which is exactly why it is worth tasting across all three before deciding gin is or is not for you.
How Organic Production Interacts With Each Style
Organic certification works the same way across all three styles. Every botanical and the base spirit have to be certified, and the process has to use only allowed substances. Where the styles differ is how much the sourcing shows up in the glass.
In a London Dry, juniper leads, so the quality and freshness of that single botanical carries enormous weight, and organic juniper is the hardest gin botanical to source. In a New Western, a non-juniper botanical leads, so whichever botanical is in front, citrus, rose, or cucumber, becomes the one where sourcing quality matters most. Old Tom's light sweetness can mask small flaws, which cuts both ways, since it forgives a lesser botanical but can also hide a genuinely good one. For the full picture on what certification actually requires, see our breakdown of what makes a gin organic.
What I Pour for People Who "Don't Like Gin"
I hear it constantly at the LAB, our tasting room in Washington County. Someone says they do not like gin, and almost every time it traces back to one experience with an aggressive London Dry in a poorly built drink. So I do not argue. I pour them something where juniper is not the headline and let the glass do the work. The shift on their face is the same nearly every time. They did not dislike gin. They disliked one style of it, served badly. Understanding the three styles is the difference between writing off an entire spirit and finding the one corner of it that fits you.
"Nobody dislikes gin. They dislike the one bottle that burned them, usually a sharp London Dry in a flat tonic. Give them the right style in a good build and the whole category opens back up." Phil Ejzak, Head Distiller, Armen's Barrels
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FAQ
Does London Dry gin have to be made in London?
No. London Dry is a production method, not a place. A gin made anywhere in the world can be labeled London Dry as long as it follows the rules: all botanicals added during distillation, nothing artificial added afterward, and only a trace of sweetening.
Is New Western gin still real gin?
Yes. It still legally requires juniper. The difference is that juniper shares the spotlight with other botanicals instead of leading, which makes the style more approachable for people who find classic gin too sharp.
Why is Old Tom gin sweeter?
Old Tom carries a light sweetness, historically from added sugar or sweet-reading botanicals. The style predates London Dry and was the gin that classic cocktails like the Tom Collins and Martinez were originally built around.
What is the best gin style for a beginner?
A London Dry is the most versatile for a home bar, but if classic gin has always tasted too sharp to you, a New Western is the easier entry point. Tasting both is the fastest way to learn your own preference.
Where can I buy a botanical-forward gin?
FLORENA Butterfly Pea Gin is available across the Pennsylvania Fine Wine and Good Spirits system and through the Armen's Barrels online store.
The fastest way to learn gin is to taste across the three styles in one sitting. Pour a London Dry, a New Western, and an Old Tom side by side, neat and at room temperature, and you will feel the difference in seconds. Once you know where you land, every bottle on the shelf gets easier to read. Curious which botanicals drive those differences? Our guide on how organic botanicals are sourced goes behind the aromas.
External reference: The Gin Guild on gin categories and legal definitions