Does It Matter That Most Gin Brands Don’t Make Their Own Base Alcohol?

The gin market is awash with hundreds of brands all jostling to get in on its seemingly never-ending boom. In the U.K. alone there are now 820 gin distilleries, but only a handful of these work through the whole production process from grain to glass. Most Gs awaiting the splash of T — from small, boutiquey brands up to some of the world’s best-known gins — are built on base alcohol bought in bulk. Their marketing may gush about artisan this and locally foraged that, but the botanicals are just the dab of perfume behind the ear of a body that comes courtesy of the agroindustrial supply chain.