Gin Trends 2017

Interest in Gin continues to grow….

Over the last five years, searches for gin have continued to increase every year. More people are reading about gin every year. The Gin Trend is solidly up. Still.

If 2016 was the year of gin, I’m not sure what they’ll call 2017.

I won’t out all those publications that predicted a decline in Gin for the 2017; however, don’t be surprised to see that in a lot of publications’ predictions for 2018. They’ve been wrong every year, but some keep expecting it to happen.

…and interest in Gin peaks every December

In this Gin Trends chart you can see both 2016 and 2017’s peak. Gin is big in winter. Gin Trends 2017 don’t necessarily show the purported “white spirit” season in summer and “brown spirit” season in winter. Though people definitely do lay off on all spirits every January. Dry January might legitimately be a thing.

Which brands generate the most buzz?

Hendrick’s is the king of the web search game. Hendrick’s outpaces esteemed brands in both advertising expenditure and consumer search interest. Though I’ll say, on this site— this was the first year Hendrick’s was not my top review.

It was Roku Gin from Suntory.

On The Gin is IN, Japanese Gin might be the biggest story in Gin….

So which is it: Aged Gin or Yellow Gin?

New terms like barrel rested gin, rested gin, or barreled gin haven’t even begun to make an impact. But we still see a clear geographical divide across the pond. Drinkers in the UK call it “Yellow Gin,” and drinkers in the US and elsewhere call it “Aged Gin.“

The only place that seems to be searching for Yellow Gin, is the UK.

…but gin trends says that the interest across the two is nearly identical.

What are people drinking these days?

I don’t quite know why, but Uruguay really, really, likes their Negronis.

And Martinis are really, really, big in Italy.

While the British Isles continue to outpace the rest of the world in Gin and Tonic consumption.

Whereas stateside, we’re still really into Snoop Dogg’s 1993 hit— or we’re still outpacing the rest of the world in consumption of gin mixed with juice.

…but let’s all be honest here. The Martini is the most quintessential gin cocktail. Interest in the Martini blows away every other cocktail— easily. This isn’t as much a part of gin trends 2017 as much as just gin trends in general. Martini: The Queen of cocktails

Botanical Intrigue

Interest in lavender seems to grow every year. For the last five years, lavender as a central botanical has been among the key gin trends. Is that a prescient move by distillers, or capitalizing on a long term growth trend?

I predict in 2018, we’ll see more lavender in gin, and interest in the floral to continue growing as well.

Gin Word Of the Year 2017

While I’ve personally been fascinated by Bitter Lemon’s year-over-year inch back to relevance. Over the past ten years, it creeps— ever upward.

However, I don’t think there’s any doubt in my mind that the 2017 Word of the Year in Gin is….

While Gin Tonica has always been a thing in Spain— it’s now gone truly worldwide. David T. Smith’s book of the same name came out this year. And bar programs the world around have taken to styling up gin and tonics with fanciful botanical additions. Gin and Tonic pairings have come into vogue— the decorative, imaginative, Spanish-borne approach to the UK’s favorite way to drink gin, is now global.

Without a doubt, 2017 is the year of Gin Tonica.

 

What do you think was top among this year’s gin trends? What do you think we’ll be talking about next year? Let us know in the comments.

Cheers to everyone, and best wishes for a safe and gin-rich 2018!