Drinks

No.3: a number one gin

By Tod Stewart

September 6, 2024

Berry Bros. & Rudd’s No.3 London Dry Gin combines centuries-old tradition with modern craft, delivering a perfectly balanced spirit for martinis and beyond

It’s probably no stretch to say that few wine and spirits merchants are as venerable as Berry Bros. & Rudd (BB&R). With a history dating back 325 years and two Royal Warrants under its belt, BB&R is Britain’s first – and most respected – wine and spirits purveyor.

It was back in 1698 when the Widow Bourne opened an “Italian grocer’s” at No.3 St. James’s Street. Originally focusing on a variety of sundry items (including the extremely fashionable drink at the time, coffee), the focus gradually shifted to libations with a tich more oomph. The “grocer” gradually morphed into a bonafide wine and spirits purveyor. By the early 19th century BB&R was importing casks of spirits to be bottled under its own label – a practise it is still engaged in today.

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When it came to crafting its No.3 London Dry Gin (starting in 2008), the BB&R folks had some pretty specific things in mind. “We wanted to create the perfect ‘martini gin’,” explained Lizzy Rudd, Chair of BB&R over lunch at the epic (we’re talking about 1,000 square meters of floor space) Blue Bovine Steak + Sushi House located in Toronto’s Union Station.

“Something simple, elegant, and perfectly balanced,” confirmed Ross Bryant, Global Brand Ambassador for No.3. “We opted for London Dry, as this category has the strictest regulations governing it, something we deem important when aiming to create a world class gin.”

No.3 has won ‘Best Gin in the World’ for an unprecedented four times in addition to being awarded ‘Supreme Champion Spirit’ at the 2019 International Spirits Challenge.

While many modern gins lean towards the slightly exotic when it comes to botanicals, No.3 sticks with Italian juniper, Bulgarian coriander, Polish angelica root, cardamom from Guatemala, grapefruit peel from Uruguay, and Spanish orange peel. The idea here was to keep the juniper – the essence of the London Dry style in the forefront. The base alcohol, incidentally, is sourced from the Netherlands and uses French winter wheat exclusively which, combined with the specific distillation process, results in maximum purity. The actual final recipe took 12 attempts over 730 days of experimentation.

The dried, uncrushed botanicals are steeped in 55 percent ABV alcohol for 16 hours to rehydrate and release flavour and aroma components before undergoing a seven-hour distillation. Each batch of 2,000 litres is distilled in a traditional gas-fired, brick-encased copper still, resulting in a final middle cut of 1,350 litres (once the foreshots are collected and removed).

Ross Bryant, Global Brand Ambassador for No.3, enjoying a Gin Vesper cocktail.

I’m always a bit curious as to why certain spirits are bottled for sale at varying ABVs. No.3 is marketed at 46 percent ABV, which might seem a bit strong when compared to other gins out there. This strength was chosen based on the experts the BB&R team chose to assist in the project – notably some of London’s top bartenders. The feeling was unanimous that a strength over 45 percent ABV was necessary if the gin was going to show properly in a classic cocktail or long drink. BB&R enlisted expert advice on this matter and listened to it.

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While the liquid itself hasn’t changed since its inception, No.3 has undergone a bit of a facelift as far as packaging goes. The colour of the glass has been lightened to afford better visibility in bars, with the hexagonal bottle shape reflecting the six botanicals in the recipe. BB&R notes that, having won ‘Best Gin in the World’ for an unprecedented fourth time in addition to being awarded ‘Supreme Champion Spirit’ at the 2019 International Spirits Challenge, the timing was perfect to retire the old design and introduce No.3 once again (or reintroduce it to long-time fans).

“No.3 London Dry Gin is very versatile when it comes to cocktails,” Bryant concludes. “We love a dry martini with a lemon twist – with an organic Amalfi lemon where possible. This really highlights our perfectly balanced recipe and key flavour profiles of juniper, citrus and spice. There are, however, countless others which allow No.3 to shine – from a French 75 to a Negroni, there’s a gin-based cocktail out there to suit all tastes.

Here are a couple classics for you to try out: