Thames Distillers Fifty Pounds Gin, England

50 Pounds is the Boston Tea Party of London Gin — named after a tax, a bit rebellious against authority, and true to the spirit of the country where it was born.  
 
In the early 1700’s, William of Orange prohibited the importation of all alcoholic beverages into England. I’ll never understand why governments do things like that, it never works, right? As you might expect, the good, drink-loving folks in jolly-old England responded just like Americans did  200 years later. They made "Bathtub Gin"… a lot of it!  So naturally, the British government thought the solution was more regulations and taxes. They imposed a special tax of £50 on anyone who wanted to distill or sell Gin.   
 
Predictably, the Gin industry collapsed and the people were collectively more sad. Anyway, that’s where the name came from. The founders of 50 Pounds London Gin named their little craft distillery after that tax in a wry British mockery of the effort.  
 
This is a proper Gin. The good people of 50 Pounds London Gin are standing up saying, "Wot? You think you fancy-dandy blokes can make Gin better by adding bubble gum and celebrity endorsements? Pish-Posh!" OK, they didn’t REALLY say it like that, but that’s what their Gin says, loud and clear. It is distilled from grain spirits and infused with a classic "perfect" recipe hidden from authorities more than a century ago.   
 
Juniper berries, a nice blend of citrus, some licorice, grains of paradise, coriander, angelica, savory, a bit of lavender, and a whole lot of love — that’s what you get in every bottle and that’s just fine with me. That’s their story and they are sticking to it. Cheers!