Gin wasn’t invented in the United Kingdom; it was the Dutch who first used jenever, or juniper berries, as a medicinal tonic before infusing malt wine with their piney flavor.

It was the UK, however, that took gin and made it a countrywide and then a global spirit, a staple of cocktail culture.

Now the UK wants to bring additional brands from its 1,000 distilleries to the Jewish state.

The British Embassy and the UK Department for Business and Trade hosted a tasting this week of new British gins being introduced to the Israeli market.

Israel is a “tiny country,” said Debbie Shapiro, Country Director for Business and Trade at the British Embassy in Israel, but its trade figures with the UK are outsized, with total trade in goods and services (exports and imports) between the UK and Israel standing at £6 billion ($8 billion) in 2025.

More than 75% of all imported gin in Israel comes from British distilleries, and the UK is globally recognized as the world’s leading producer and exporter of premium gin, with over 50% of the spirit’s exports originating in the UK.

Several established UK brands and mixers are already available in Israel, including The Botanist, Greenall’s Gin, Tanqueray Gin and Fever-Tree tonics, Bombay Sapphire and Franklin & Sons Tonics.

Israel also has some of its own unique gins, including several that incorporate local botanicals like citron,........

© The Times of Israel