Tanqueray is an English brand of gin produced by

Diageo plc Diageo plc () is a multinational alcoholic beverage company, with its headquarters in London, England. It operates from 132 sites around the world. It was the world's largest distiller before being overtaken by Kweichow Moutai of China in 201 ...

. It originated in London. In 2016 it displaced Beefeater as the number one global seller. While it does not command a sizable market share in its native market, its largest market is the United States, where it is the highest-selling gin import. Tanqueray is a

London dry gin Gin () is a distilled alcoholic drink that derives its flavour from juniper berries (''Juniperus communis''). Gin originated as a medicinal liquor made by monks and alchemists across Europe, particularly in southern Italy, Flanders and the Ne ...

, reflecting its distillation process and origin in

Bloomsbury Bloomsbury is a district in the West End of London. It is considered a fashionable residential area, and is the location of numerous cultural, intellectual, and educational institutions. Bloomsbury is home of the British Museum, the largest mus ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

. London dry gin is made by double distilling grain, with select botanicals added during the second distillation. While the Tanqueray recipe is a closely guarded

trade secret Trade secrets are a type of intellectual property that includes formulas, practices, processes, designs, instruments, patterns, or compilations of information that have inherent economic value because they are not generally known or readily ...

, it is known to contain four botanicals:

juniper Junipers are coniferous trees and shrubs in the genus ''Juniperus'' () of the cypress family Cupressaceae. Depending on the taxonomy, between 50 and 67 species of junipers are widely distributed throughout the Northern Hemisphere, from the Arcti ...

coriander Coriander (;

angelica root ''Angelica archangelica'', commonly known as garden angelica, wild celery, and Norwegian angelica, is a biennial plant from the family Apiaceae, a subspecies of which is cultivated for its sweetly scented edible stems and roots. Like several oth ...

and

liquorice Liquorice (British English) or licorice (American English) ( ; also ) is the common name of ''Glycyrrhiza glabra'', a flowering plant of the bean family Fabaceae, from the root of which a sweet, aromatic flavouring can be extracted. The liqu ...

, all common botanicals in gin productions overall. It is one of Diageo's sixteen "strategic brands" earmarked for prioritisation in promotion and distribution worldwide.

History

Tanqueray gin was initially distilled in 1830 by Charles Tanqueray in the

district of

. The retail outlet of Edward & Charles Tanqueray & Co was established on

Vine Street Vine Street is a street in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California that runs north–south between Franklin Avenue and Melrose Avenue. The intersection with Hollywood Boulevard was once a symbol of Hollywood itself. The famed intersection fell into d ...

, London, in 1838. When Charles died in 1868, his son Charles Waugh Tanqueray inherited the distillery, which continued to operate until it was severely damaged during World War II. The only facility to survive the

Axis An axis (plural ''axes'') is an imaginary line around which an object rotates or is symmetrical. Axis may also refer to: Mathematics * Axis of rotation: see rotation around a fixed axis * Axis (mathematics), a designator for a Cartesian-coordinat ...

bombing, now known as "Old Tom", has since been moved to

Cameron Bridge Cameron Bridge is a village in the conurbation of Levenmouth in Fife, Scotland. It is near to the village of Windygates and west of the town of Leven. A distillery was established in the 19th century by the Haig family, which is now part of Diag ...

, Scotland. According to one report, Tanqueray became the highest selling gin in the world for the first time in 2016, with nearly three million nine-litre cases sold.

Products

Tanqueray London Dry Gin is the original product that was launched in 1830; its key botanicals are

coriander Coriander (;

and

. It is variously sold as: * IMPORTED 47.3%

ABV Alcohol by volume (abbreviated as ABV, abv, or alc/vol) is a standard measure of how much alcohol (ethanol) is contained in a given volume of an alcoholic beverage (expressed as a volume percent). It is defined as the number of millilitres (mL) o ...

(United States, Canada, Germany and European duty-free shops) * Export Strength 43.1% ABV (United Kingdom, Norway and Sweden) * 40% ABV (Australia, Canada, and New Zealand) Tanqueray No. Ten Gin (47.3%) was introduced in 2000 and is targeted at the

martini Martini may refer to: * Martini (cocktail) * Martini (vermouth), a brand of vermouth * Martini (surname), an Italian surname * Martini (automobile company), a Swiss automobile company * Automobiles Martini, a French manufacturer of racing cars * M ...

market. It is distilled four times with whole fresh

grapefruit The grapefruit (''Citrus'' × ''paradisi'') is a subtropical citrus tree known for its relatively large, sour to semi-sweet, somewhat bitter fruit. The interior flesh is segmented and varies in color from pale yellow to dark pink. Grapefruit is ...

orange Orange most often refers to: *Orange (fruit), the fruit of the tree species '' Citrus'' × ''sinensis'' ** Orange blossom, its fragrant flower *Orange (colour), from the color of an orange, occurs between red and yellow in the visible spectrum * ...

lime Lime commonly refers to: * Lime (fruit), a green citrus fruit * Lime (material), inorganic materials containing calcium, usually calcium oxide or calcium hydroxide * Lime (color), a color between yellow and green Lime may also refer to: Botany ...

and

chamomile Chamomile (American English) or camomile (British English; see spelling differences) ( or ) is the common name for several plants of the family Asteraceae. Two of the species, ''Matricaria recutita'' and ''Anthemis nobilis'', are commonly us ...

flowers Tanqueray Sterling

Vodka Vodka ( pl, wódka , russian: водка , sv, vodka ) is a clear distilled alcoholic beverage. Different varieties originated in Poland, Russia, and Sweden. Vodka is composed mainly of water and ethanol but sometimes with traces of impuritie ...

was introduced in 1989 and is available in both neutral and citrus flavours. Its main market is the United States. Tanqueray Rangpur Gin was introduced in Maryland, Delaware, and Washington, D.C. in the summer of 2006. It has a strong citrus flavor, the result of rangpur limes,

ginger Ginger (''Zingiber officinale'') is a flowering plant whose rhizome, ginger root or ginger, is widely used as a spice A spice is a seed, fruit, root, bark, or other plant substance primarily used for flavoring or coloring food. Spices ...

, and

bay leaves The bay leaf is an aromatic leaf commonly used in cooking. It can be used whole, either dried or fresh, in which case it is removed from the dish before consumption, or less commonly used in ground form. It may come from several species of tr ...

added during the final distillation process. It is produced at 82.6 proof (41.3% abv) and is now available throughout the United States and Canada. Tanqueray Malacca Gin was introduced in 1997 as a "wetter" alternative to the London Dry, with more sweetness and a stronger fruit palate (most notably grapefruit). Discontinued in 2001, Diageo announced on 12 December 2012 (12/12/12) that a 16,000-case limited edition of Tanqueray Malacca would be relaunched in the US, Great Britain, Canada and Western Europe for February 2013. Tanqueray Blackcurrant Royale Gin was introduced in 2021. It has a rich fruity flavor with taste of French blackcurrant,

vanilla Vanilla is a spice derived from orchids of the genus ''Vanilla (genus), Vanilla'', primarily obtained from pods of the Mexican species, flat-leaved vanilla (''Vanilla planifolia, V. planifolia''). Pollination is required to make the p ...

and exotic floral notes. In 2021 Tanqueray launched a non-alcoholic variety of the original called Tanqueray 0.0 , bottled at 0.0%abv. Past offerings from Tanqueray also include both orange and lemon gins, produced from 1937 until 1957, when both were phased out. Notable

spirit ratings With a growing number of offerings, such as those produced by an increasing number of microdistilleries, various mechanisms have arisen to provide reviews and opinions of individual varieties of spirits. These events generally use expert panels ...

for Tanqueray included a string of Double Golds (for its basic London Dry) for 2005–2007 from the San Francisco World Spirits Competition. Later years' competitions saw Tanqueray win a string of silver medals and then another double gold in 2012.Awards Summary Page for Tanqueray London Dry
/ref> Wine Enthusiast rated the London Dry in its "96–100" category in 2007 but gave it a "90–95" in 2011.

Advertising

Tanqueray introduced "Mr. Jenkins", a white-haired, well-dressed spokes-character, in print ads in 1994. He was retired a few years later. In 2004 Tanqueray introduced "Tony Sinclair", a younger, foppish hipster socialite spokes-character in television ads created by Conor Sheridan. Sinclair's

catchphrase A catchphrase (alternatively spelled catch phrase) is a phrase or expression recognized by its repeated utterance. Such phrases often originate in popular culture and in the arts, and typically spread through word of mouth and a variety of mass ...

at the end of every commercial was "Ready to Tanqueray?" followed by a manic laugh. He was portrayed by Rodney Mason as a madcap socialite of

Black British Black British people are a multi-ethnic group of British citizens of either African or Afro-Caribbean descent.Gadsby, Meredith (2006), ''Sucking Salt: Caribbean Women Writers, Migration, and Survival'', University of Missouri Press, pp. 76–7 ...

descent. In the 2008 ''

Mad Men ''Mad Men'' is an American period drama television series created by Matthew Weiner and produced by Lionsgate Television. It ran on the cable network AMC from July 19, 2007, to May 17, 2015, lasting for seven seasons and 92 episodes. Its fict ...

'' episode "

The Jet Set The Jet Set is a Polish R&B duo which consists of English-born David Junior Serame (South African ancestry) and Russian-born Sasha Strunin. They represented Poland in the semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2007 in Helsinki. Eurovision ...

Duck Phillips This is a list of fictional characters in the television series ''Mad Men'', all of whom have appeared in multiple episodes. Overview ;Cast notes: * Maxwell Huckabee and Aaron Hart have split the role of Bobby Draper in the first season, whil ...

receives a crate of Tanqueray from his British former advertising colleagues as enticement for Duck to initiate their firm's purchase of Sterling Cooper.

References

Works cited

* *

External links

Official website of Tanqueray ginTanqueray
on thebar UK, owned by Diageo {{Gin distilleries in the United Kingdom 1830 introductions British Royal Warrant holders Diageo brands Gins 1830 establishments in England