Tanqueray

Tanqueray is not afraid to be different – their gin is a perfect mix of ingenuity, heritage and hard work.

Charles Tanqueray, who could be described as a mad scientist, was born in 1810 to a long line of English clergymen. Charles liked to invent things and conduct experiments, for example, he invented animal medicines and horseshoe polish. He did not, however, show any interest in attending university. Unlike his father, he did not become a clergyman – he became a distiller instead. He and his brother, Edward, went to the Curries Distillery to learn the craft.

At the age of 20, Charles became a gin distillery owner. In 1830, he established the Vine Street Distillery in London’s Bloomsbury. During the first few years, he experimented a great deal and tried to find different methods to produce the best-quality gin. For example, he tweaked the proportion of juniper berries added to the gin depending on where he was sourcing them from. Charles Tanqueray was a competitive businessman and was determined to make better gins than his competitor, Alexander Gordon.

Charles Tanqueray is considered the creator of London dry gin. It became the flagship brand of his company. At the time, Old Tom-style gin was fashionable; however, these gins were heavily sugared to hide the imperfections in the base spirit. In 1832, continuous distillation was invented and Charles would have been one of the first to pioneer a London dry-style of gin using this method.

Four botanicals are used to make Tanqueray: juniper, liquorice, coriander seeds, and angelica root. In addition to finding the best balance of botanicals, Tanqueray also came up with a method of distilling the botanicals into a small quantity of base spirit before distilling the larger batch for the final time to make gin. To this day, Tanqueray is produced following the same recipe.

Major changes took place when Charles Tanqueray died in 1868 and his innovative son Charles Waugh Tanqueray took over the business. The son was focused on exports. One of the most notable things Charles Waugh did was the merger between Alexander Gordon & Co and Charles Tanqueray & Co in 1898 to form the largest gin house in the world. When the companies merged, Gordon’s took the forefront to become the gin of choice in the UK, and Tanqueray in the USA – this is the reason why one or the other is more popular in certain parts of the world.

Prohibition in the US hit Tanqueray hard, which is why they allegedly financially supported the anti-dry movement.

Today, Tanqueray is produced in Leven, Scotland, and the company is owned by Diageo.

Unmistakably Tanqueray

Tanqueray only uses freshly picked botanicals which are matured for up to 18 months to bring out their rich aromatic oils. The flavour of Tanqueray is so complex and distinctive you would know it with your eyes closed.

Traditional & bold

Tanqueray offers a wide selection of products: classic Tanqueray London Dry Gin, crazy Tanqueray Flor de Sevilla, exotic Tanqueray Rangpur, and handcrafted Tanqueray Nº TEN.

Ideal for cocktails

Compared to other gins, Tanqueray has a stronger juniper flavour which is why it is perfect in cocktails. Try making a classic Gin & Tonic, Negroni, or Martin with Tanqueray.

The famous green shaker

Up until the 1950s, Tanqueray was the only gin in the USA which was available in a green bottle. A lot of people think the bottle resembles a fire hydrant, but it is actually modeled after a cocktail shaker.