Drinks: John Saker reviews two new gins

The days of simply asking for a gin are over. The gin renaissance of the past several years has made the word almost as imprecise a generic term as wine, so stylistically varied has the category become. 

We can marvel that it took so long for this to happen, as the freedom to experiment has always been there. Gin is basically flavoured vodka for which there is no master recipe. Beyond the juniper mainstay (EU regulations stipulate that in all types of gin, juniper must be the predominant flavour), distillers can toss in whatever other taste agents they choose. 

But tradition and old fartism have long been part and parcel of gin and its production. It took an all-out assault from a sudden new army of independents, along with a willingness to innovate by some inside the establishment, for the walls of gin-as-we-knew-it to crumble. 

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* Gin distilleries on the rise in New Zealand, Reid+Reid new kids on the block
* Five top gin cocktails

Among the raft of fascinating new gins with alternative flavour profiles, I'll single out a couple I think are worth trying. The first is Opihr Oriental Spiced London Dry Gin an example of an established gin house giving its distiller license to have some fun. The label and bottle ooze olde worlde propriety, though this gin is far from trad and was only launched in 2013.

Spice is the operative word. Opihr leads with piney, floral aromatics but the moment you put it in your mouth you're transported to a backstreet bazaar somewhere east of Suez. Beyond the juniper are a maze of flavours; cardamom is big, so are cumin and ginger. It all works. Master Distiller Joanne Moore (who's also in charge of Greenall's and Thomas Dakin, among other brands), has succeeded in making a complex yet fresh, balanced gin. Try it with ginger ale, rather than tonic.

The Rutte Celery Gin is a new take from an old Dutch label (est. 1872) that is currently owned by the De Kuyper spirit company. It is also distilled by a woman – Myriam Hendrickx – who created it a few years ago. The Rutte Celery Gin is not as funky as the Opihr. The celery component is lovely but quite subtle, coming at you fleetingly and earthily (more like celeriac than green celery) before being subsumed by a wave of angelica root (aka wild celery) and juniper. 

This gin has a soft, cloud-like presence, rather than the piercing clarity of the classic London gins. Mix it with the driest tonic you can find.