Christmas pudding gin anyone? Six surprising festive gins you need to try over the holidays

We love a gin and tonic at any time of year, but even more so at this time of year. Easy to make, easy to drink, and quick to order at the bar. You can’t really go wrong ordering this at what is the busiest time of year for Manchester’s hospitality industry.

If you’re a gin lover, Manchester icon Atlas Bar is the place to go.

With over 450 gins and counting on their back bar, the selection grows so fast they’ve even gone so far as to create an online gin menu which not only provides loads of information on their extensive range, it also saves them having to reprint their menu every other week.

To help you ring in the festive season, the lovely people at Atlas have put together a selection of their favourite Christmas gins which can be enjoyed in their bar, on their cosy roof terrace, or even ordered through the gin bible’s bottle service to help see you through the Christmas period at home.

Read on to uncover their top seasonal picks.

Four Pillars Christmas Gin

All the way from the Yarra Valley in Australia, Four Pillars Christmas pudding gin is created using distilled Christmas puddings made from the distiller’s mother’s recipe and adding botanicals including cinnamon, star anise and coriander. Then it’s blended with regular Four Pillars gin aged in Scotch whisky barrels, a touch of Rutherglen Classic Muscat and a little of the distillery’s own Muscat, which they age in Pedro Ximenez Sherry Casks. It’s a 2018 limited edition so make the most of it before it’s gone.

Cuckoo Spiced Gin

Not only is this gin local, it also happens to be the perfect Christmas treat. Cuckoo Spiced is distilled using fresh spring water and flavoured using sustainably and ethically sourced, warming botanicals grown on their Lancashire farm. Notes of black pepper, fresh ginger, fennel, orange and cardamom make this a wonderful gin to enjoy at Christmas time.

Darnley’s View Spiced Gin

Darnley’s create this spiced gin using the traditional London Dry method. But unlike its London Dry counterpart, this spiced variation uses a total of ten botanicals. Prominent additions include nutmeg and cinnamon, which provide this gin with its spicy notes. Bottled at a slightly stronger 42.7%, Darnley’s say they believe it’s at this elevated strength where the spice combination tastes its best. The Atlas team love this gin in a negroni. If you prefer a simple G&T, they recommend trying it with a slice of orange and a premium tonic.

Tarquin’s The Tonquin

Tarquin’s The Tonquin is another 2018 limited addition gin made with South American tonka beans and clementine. On the nose, this gin oozes clementine, frangipane and sour cherry. Its palette is full of juniper, chocolate orange and spiced vanilla notes and there is almost a finish of freshly ground coffee – a real treat for the senses.

William Chase Sloe Gin

Christmas just wouldn’t be Christmas without a deep and full flavoured sloe gin and this one from William Chase is fantastic and rich. The sloes are harvested in Herefordshire where this gin is distilled. You’ll pick up notes of blackcurrants, redcurrants and cassis.  So good it can be enjoyed neat, this gin is also delicious with bitter lemon or a lemon tonic if you fancy a drink with a twist.

Peaky Blinder Spiced Dry Gin

By order of the Peaky Blinders, Atlas Bar have added this brand new gin to their already extensive collection. Produced by Sadler’s Distillery in the Black Country, this gin has been made in small batches and uses exotic spices and botanicals to create a warming winter spirit. With notes of fresh ginger, black pepper and cassis, it’s lovely with Schweppes 1783 tonic, a slice of orange and a cinnamon stick. Did someone say perfect Christmas G&T?