Comparing Gin Brands

[brinza]

Anything over $30 for an unaged spirit is way too much, IMO. I paid $24 for Plymouth about 6 months ago. If it goes up, I'll certainly find alternatives.

[thirtyoneknots]

Holy crap that's preposterous. Interestingly enough when I was in Spec's the other day I noticed the liter bottles of Plymouth were on sale for like $2 off (didn't pay much attention but that probably makes a liter around $24). Might have to go stock up a bit.

When I first noticed and started buying Plymouth a few years ago it was like $12/btl all the time and was in the old, (imo) better looking bottles (wish I'd bought a case now). The steady price increase has led to me using it less and less and I can guarantee that if it goes that high I'll stop using it completely, and so will Veritas. I know botanicals aren't free but I think brinza is on to something; how can an unaged spirit be so expensive? On top of that it's the lowest proof of any gin that anyone around here would bother with. Seems like it should at least be affordable.

[slkinsey]

Astor Wines and Spirits's web site currently lists a liter of Plymouth for $30 versus $27 for a liter of Tanqueray and $25 for a liter of Beefeater.

This puts Plymouth right at the boundary price point between high quality "workhorse mixing gins" one is likely to use in lots of cocktails and boutique gins one is likely to use rarely in Martinis and a few cocktails designed to highlight their special qualities. For example, this is the same price point as Bombay Sapphire.

This is a real shame, in my opinion. Plymouth's softness makes it a nice all-around mixing gin to use in applications where a lighter gin character is desired. But, when it's selling for the same price as Sapphire, I don't see using it in things like a gin sour, etc. In general, as the price has crept up over the last few years, I've found myself using it less and less frequently, and most of the time I use bottles I've received as swag rather than purchased myself. I'd use a lot more of it if it were $25 a liter instead of $30.

[thirtyoneknots]

Yeah on some level I kind of feel like 'premium' or 'botique' gins are a scam, particularly the ones that are clearly produced on a huge scale at industrial distilleries, as opposed to something like, say, Junipero. Is there really a good reason for Sapphire to even cost that much? I would suspect not. I think it may have more to do with the market share they are competing with-- Bombay Sapphire is competing with Grey Goose at least as much as it's competing with Beefeater, if not more. I don't think it's a coincidence that the more expensive gins in general tend to be soft, "beginner-friendly" gins that are unconventional in their juniper profile. They're chasing the "super-premium vodka" customers with more accessable spirits and I fear that's where they're trying to take Plymouth.

And that's a damn shame for such a historic product to end up as a corporate gimmick.

[MattJohnson]

Thats interesting, I'm still getting it for about 25. They may end up pricing themselves out of their market if the price climbs any higher.

Edited October 13, 2008 by MattJohnson (log)

[Chris Amirault]

I can still find it around town for $15-20 easily. (Ducks)

[David Santucci]

In Boston the standard price seems to be $28/fifth!

[slkinsey]

Prices for Plymouth seem to vary from region to region and city to city far more than other brands. The price of Plymouth Sloe differs by as much as $13 for a fifth depending on the city.

Edited October 13, 2008 by slkinsey (log)

[birder53]

$24 here in Santa Fe. Sam's Club doesn't stock it. We usually go with Gordons and Tanqueray for price reasons. The one drink that needs the Plymouth is the Fifty Fifty. That didn't work as well with our other gins. Hendricks and Millers are nice but don't work well in cocktails for us.

[slkinsey]

The one drink that needs the Plymouth is the Fifty Fifty.

The Fitty Fitty at Pegu is made with Tanqueray and Noilly Prat, as far as I know.

[jsmeeker]

Some bad news on the Plymouth front.

I was talking Friday to the owner of a local liquor store and he said that due to a recent increase in the price he will be forced to raise the price of Plymouth Gin, if he hasn't already, about $10 a bottle.  In SF, that means going from around $27 to $37.

He said something about Brown-Forman having sold Plymouth as a loss leader to promote other brands.  Plymouth's new owner, Pernod-Ricard apparently, doesn't look at it that way and will now begin selling it in the luxury category of gins.

Though, googling, I do see some industry sites that were saying, in the spring, that Pernod-Ricard was hoping sell of the Plymouth Brand to another firm within 6 months or so.  Maybe a shallow attempt to increase the price they are getting for the brand?

I like Plymouth a lot, but I just don't see myself spending nearly $40 a bottle to keep it in the house.

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wow.. That's terrible. I was coming to this thread to ask for an alternative to Plymouth if I were unable to find it in unfamiliar area (small town in Ohio).

Plymouth has been my "go to" gin for a lot of cocktails, and I think it works well in certain drinks for people who say "I don't like gin" (plus, the price has been great compared to most other major brands). That's what I was looking for to make cocktails weekend after next, and wanted to know what to get if I couldn't get Plymouth.

So, what do you suggest ?

[birder53]

The one drink that needs the Plymouth is the Fifty Fifty.

The Fitty Fitty at Pegu is made with Tanqueray and Noilly Prat, as far as I know.

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We first had this drink at Gary Regan's 'Cocktails in the Country'. He made it with Tanqueray 10. We tried it at home with regular Tanqueray and didn't care for it. The Plymouth worked as a less expensive substitute for the too expensive Tanq 10. I guess it all depends on what you expect from a drink and perhaps how you first enjoyed it. It's like the folks who only like certain foods prepared the way their mother made them.

[Lan4Dawg]

In Boston the standard price seems to be $28/fifth!

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we have Plymouth on the shelf here in north metro Atlanta, GA at $35.00/ltr and $26/fifth. I just checked the numbers and wholesale prices have risen two dollars a year for the past couple of years which is not terribly unreasonable. I have seen liters as low as $27.00 but that is very few and very far between and not very recently.

[bostonapothecary]

In Boston the standard price seems to be $28/fifth!

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we have Plymouth on the shelf here in north metro Atlanta, GA at $35.00/ltr and $26/fifth. I just checked the numbers and wholesale prices have risen two dollars a year for the past couple of years which is not terribly unreasonable. I have seen liters as low as $27.00 but that is very few and very far between and not very recently.

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i think i know a couple places in south boston that have really old bottles of it on the bottom shelf... i should probably go and buy them as gifts but to be honest i never really liked the stuff.

[brinza]

It's making more sense to stick with Seagram's Distillers Reserve. A 102-proof gin for $13.99. And it's good.

[slkinsey]

i think i know a couple places in south boston that have really old bottles of it on the bottom shelf... i should probably go and buy them as gifts but to be honest i never really liked the stuff.

Heh. Seriously, is there any spirit "generally regarded as first-rate by the cocktailian community" that you like?

[bostonapothecary]

i think i know a couple places in south boston that have really old bottles of it on the bottom shelf... i should probably go and buy them as gifts but to be honest i never really liked the stuff.

Heh. Seriously, is there any spirit "generally regarded as first-rate by the cocktailian community" that you like?

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overholt rye.

plymouth isn't a bad product. i can easily enjoy drinking it. my understanding is that style of gin is supposed to be botanically potent and what gets sold today is kinda delicate. when i want something a little more delicate i just cut another gin with a fruit eau de vie for a little contrast. i'm mainly unhappy with the price.

[slkinsey]

Actually, I don't think that Plymouth gin is supposed to be botanically potent. Plymouth is not only a brand of gin, but also a style of gin that is similar to, but not quite the same as London dry gin. As far as I am aware, it's been more or less the same recipe for some 200+ years, producing a softer, sweeter, less botanically intensive product.

I agree about the price, however. It's getting far too expensive. And I have to say that I disagree with Lan4Dawg that raising the price a couple of dollars a year is reasonable. For example, if we're seeing Plymouth at $30 today and assume a two-dollar rise every year, that would mean that the price rose twenty five percent since 2005 and thirty three percent since 2004. Not reasonable, and not likely to put Plymouth on too many shelves IMO.

Edited October 17, 2008 by slkinsey (log)

[thirtyoneknots]

Actually, I don't think that Plymouth gin is supposed to be botanically potent.  Plymouth is not only a brand of gin, but also a style of gin that is similar to, but not quite the same as London dry gin.  As far as I am aware, it's been more or less the same recipe for some 200+ years, producing a softer, sweeter, less botanically intensive product.

I agree about the price, however.  It's getting far too expensive.  And I have to say that I disagree with Lan4Dawg that raising the price a couple of dollars a year is reasonable.  For example, if we're seeing Plymouth at $30 today and assume a two-dollar rise every year, that would mean that the price rose twenty five percent since 2005 and thirty three percent since 2004.  Not reasonable, and not likely to put Plymouth on too many shelves IMO.

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Around here it wasn't so long ago you could get it for half of what it costs now, c. 2005 or so, maybe even in 06, you could get it for around $13/btl.

[Lan4Dawg]

Actually, I don't think that Plymouth gin is supposed to be botanically potent.  Plymouth is not only a brand of gin, but also a style of gin that is similar to, but not quite the same as London dry gin.  As far as I am aware, it's been more or less the same recipe for some 200+ years, producing a softer, sweeter, less botanically intensive product.

I agree about the price, however.  It's getting far too expensive.  And I have to say that I disagree with Lan4Dawg that raising the price a couple of dollars a year is reasonable.  For example, if we're seeing Plymouth at $30 today and assume a two-dollar rise every year, that would mean that the price rose twenty five percent since 2005 and thirty three percent since 2004.  Not reasonable, and not likely to put Plymouth on too many shelves IMO.

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I did not say it was "reasonable". I said it was not "terribly unreasonable" and by that I mean it did not take a huge jump at any point but a gradual rise--which is some what in line w/ a lot of products such as that---ones we do not purchase in bulk lots to get deals and we only purchase about six bottles or so a year. With the euro v. the dollar, the rise of gas prices & transportation, &c we have seen lots of increases in any thing fr/ Europe and that is less gradual than some.

[brinza]

The first time I bought Boodles, which was only something like two years ago, it was $15--seriously. Right now, Pennsylvania (although they've relegated it to a special order item. which can affect the price), is listing for $40.69.

[Dave the Cook]

The first time I bought Boodles, which was only something like two years ago, it was $15--seriously.  Right now, Pennsylvania (although they've relegated it to a special order item. which can affect the price), is listing for $40.69. 

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For a 750 ml bottle? Holy crap. I can get it at several places in Atlanta for $21.

[bostonapothecary]

The first time I bought Boodles, which was only something like two years ago, it was $15--seriously.  Right now, Pennsylvania (although they've relegated it to a special order item. which can affect the price), is listing for $40.69.  

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For a 750 ml bottle? Holy crap. I can get it at several places in Atlanta for $21.

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the only gin around here that you can get for under $20 now is gordons, seagram's and their distiller's reserve. i get liters of new amsterdam on special for $6 at the restaurant and its not too far away from plymouth. if i find anything else its really old stock at sleepy liquor stores.

its crazy than you can get products like wellers bourbon cheaper than a gin.

[Alcuin]

Around here (Madison, WI), Plymouth just went up from $21 a liter to $25 a liter at the cheapest source (though every other place in town has it for around the same price for a .750).

The price of Beefeater is stable at $31 a 1.75 and Tanqueray is $35 a 1.75.

I still buy Plymouth at this price, but I definitely use it less than Beefeater, my standard gin (unless I spring for Tanq, which I usually don't).

$40 for a bottle of gin! That's over the top--you can get a bottle of Redbreast for that much.

[jmfangio]

Man, this thread is just making me sad.

I love Plymouth, but now I can't find it anywhere for less than $27, up from an average of $18 when I first started buying it 2-3 years ago. For that money, I can get a 1.75L Beefeater, or start eyeballing the Junipero or No. 209.

Unless something changes, I'm afraid that I may have already finished my last bottle of Plymouth.