Plymouth Honey Flavored Gin 750ml

Plymouth Gin has been made at the Blackfriars Distillery since 1793 — in a 15th-century Dominican monastery building in Plymouth, Devon, using the same seven botanicals and the same soft Dartmoor water that has defined the house style for over 230 years. It supplied the Royal Navy. It crossed oceans in the holds of ships departing from Plymouth's famous port. It was the original gin in the Pink Gin cocktail. The history is as long and as specific as any gin in the world.

Plymouth Honey is the sixth permanent expression in the Plymouth Gin portfolio — the fourth to reach the US market — and it represents the distillery's most contemporary and most accessible departure from the original dry gin framework: Plymouth's foundational 1793 botanical recipe married with natural honey to produce something delicate, smooth, and immediately welcoming. Master Distiller Sean Harrison describes it plainly: "Plymouth Gin stands as an iconic spirit with a storied heritage. This new expression sustains that tradition by marrying Plymouth Gin with honey to craft a remarkably smooth, elegant, flavored gin — delivering a distinct, rich honeyed finish that is truly the bee's knees."

The result is crystal clear rather than golden — an immediate visual signal that distinguishes Plymouth Honey from honey-colored liqueurs and confirms its identity as a gin expression rather than a sweetened spirit. At 42.1% ABV and 82.4 proof it sits firmly at full gin proof rather than liqueur strength — stronger and drier than Wild Turkey American Honey or other honey liqueurs, with the juniper and herbal botanical character of the Plymouth recipe providing the structural backbone beneath the natural honey sweetness. The Gin Guild's description captures the flavor profile with characteristic directness: "Gentle on the palate with golden honey and vanilla notes, alongside a juniper and citrus finish — a delicate and smooth expression."

Origins & Craftsmanship

The Blackfriars Distillery is the oldest operating gin distillery in England — a Dominican Order monastery built in 1431 in Plymouth, Devon, whose medieval Refectory Room with its distinctive hull-shaped timber roof remains one of the most architecturally remarkable spirits production facilities in the world. Plymouth Gin has been distilled at this site since 1793, when Coates & Co. established the operation — making it one of the longest-continuous-production gin brands in British spirits history. The brand is owned by Pernod Ricard and continues to produce Plymouth Gin under the geographic designation that makes it the only gin distilled in the city of Plymouth.

Plymouth Honey is built on the same foundational recipe and production process that has defined Plymouth Gin since 1793 — the seven botanicals (juniper, coriander seed, cardamom, orris root, angelica root, orange peel, and lemon peel) distilled with soft Dartmoor water in the distillery's copper pot still. To this foundation, natural honey flavor is added at the blending stage — a carefully calibrated addition developed by Master Distiller Sean Harrison and his team to produce the precise character the distillery sought: delicate enough to complement rather than overwhelm the Plymouth Gin's distinctive botanical framework, present enough to add genuine warmth, sweetness, and the honey character that the expression is named for.

The crystal-clear appearance — rather than the golden color that honey-based products typically carry — is a deliberate production choice that communicates Plymouth Honey's identity as a gin expression rather than a liqueur. At 42.1% ABV / 82.4 proof, it is bottled at full gin strength — considerably higher than honey liqueurs at 35–40% ABV — with the botanical structure and the proof carrying the honey's natural character through every cocktail format with the presence and persistence that lower-proof honey expressions cannot achieve.

Critics Reviews

Plymouth Honey launched in the US in May 2025 — too recently for widely published numeric scores from major spirits publications to be available at this time. The expression has received positive trade reception at its Spring 2025 US launch, with the Gin Masters 2024 awarding Gold medals to multiple Plymouth Gin expressions in its First Tasting cycle, confirming the broader house quality at the highest competition level.

The Gin Guild's official description: "Gentle on the palate with golden honey and vanilla notes, alongside a juniper and citrus finish — a delicate and smooth expression of the premium Plymouth Gin."

Plymouth Gin's own official description: "A crystal-clear pour that opens with a sweet, sun-warmed honey aroma layered over the brand's characteristic juniper and herbal notes. On the palate, it is delicate and balanced, with honey and vanilla intertwining with the earthy, citrus finish that defines the Plymouth style."

Tasting Profile

Nose Crystal clear in the glass — the absence of color immediately distinctive and immediately communicating the gin's identity. The nose opens with a sweet, sun-warmed honey aroma — warm, slightly floral, and entirely genuine rather than artificial in character. The Plymouth Gin's botanical framework is present and reassuring beneath the honey's generosity: juniper's familiar resinous quality threading through alongside herbal notes from the cardamom and angelica. Vanilla follows the honey — soft, slightly rounded, adding a secondary sweet warmth. Orange and lemon peel add a bright citrus lift that keeps the sweetness from settling into something heavy or cloying. A faint earthiness from the orris root and angelica grounds the whole aromatic picture in the botanical seriousness of the 1793 recipe. The overall impression is of a gin that leads with honey's warmth and then reveals its botanical credentials with quiet confidence.

Palate Delicate, smooth, and genuinely balanced — the Master Distiller's description of "remarkably smooth and elegant" confirmed from the first sip. The honey character arrives first: golden, slightly floral, and warmer than raw honey due to the botanical framework's herbal support. Vanilla intertwines with the honey in a slightly confectionary combination that is accessible without being sticky. At 42.1% ABV the spirit carries genuine presence and warmth — this is not a sweet liqueur but a full-strength gin whose honey integration provides sweetness without reducing the botanical intensity. Juniper and the citrus peels assert themselves through the honey mid-palate — the earthy, citrus finish that defines the Plymouth house style arriving with the characteristic directness and clarity that has made Plymouth Gin a category benchmark for over two centuries. The mouthfeel is smooth and slightly rounded — the honey's natural viscosity adding a subtle textural warmth that lifts the botanical complexity rather than suppressing it.

Finish Clean, gently lingering, and resolved. The honey warmth carries the close alongside vanilla and the faintest echo of juniper and citrus peel — fading gradually and cleanly without sweetness lingering aggressively past its welcome. A whisper of earthy botanical character from the angelica and orris root adds a subtle drying note at the very close that provides a gin-appropriate finish rather than a liqueur-style sweet fade. Medium in length, honest, and entirely aligned with the Plymouth brand's commitment to elegant balance rather than excess in any direction.

Quick Overview

Serving & Occasion

Plymouth's own recommended signature serves are the Bee's Knees cocktail and a honey twist on the classic Gin & Tonic — both natural fits for a honey gin at 42.1% ABV. The Bee's Knees is the most natural and most historically elegant format, where honey gin replaces both the gin and the honey syrup of the traditional recipe for a particularly clean and coherent version. A honey G&T with premium tonic and a lemon wheel is the everyday serve that showcases the delicate sweet-botanical balance most directly. Excellent neat over ice where the vanilla and juniper interplay is most clearly expressed. Outstanding for anyone who finds standard gin too austere or dry and wants a genuine gin character with accessible sweetness — the 42.1% ABV carries the botanical framework through every cocktail format while the honey adds warmth and approachability.

Cocktail Suggestions

The Bee's Knees (Plymouth's signature serve and the natural home) 2 oz Plymouth Honey · ¾ oz fresh lemon juice · ½ oz simple syrup. Shaken hard over ice, double-strained into a chilled coupe. The classic prohibition-era cocktail — invented specifically to mask low-quality gin with honey and lemon — is entirely transformed when the gin already carries the honey character. The Plymouth Honey version requires less additional sweetener (reduce simple syrup to taste or omit entirely) and produces a more coherent, botanically integrated version than a standard gin-plus-honey-syrup preparation. The distillery's own signature serve.

Plymouth Honey G&T 2 oz Plymouth Honey · premium Indian tonic · lemon wheel · fresh thyme sprig. Built over a large ice cube in a Copa de Balon glass. The tonic lifts the honey and vanilla aromatics into a vivid, slightly floral long drink while the lemon amplifies the citrus botanical already present. Fresh thyme echoes the herbal botanical notes. The distillery's second recommended serve.

Honey Martini 2.5 oz Plymouth Honey · ½ oz dry vermouth · lemon twist. Stirred over ice with precision, served up in a chilled crystal coupe. The Plymouth Gin's martini heritage — it was considered one of the original great martini gins — is honored in this honey expression, where the vanilla and honey add a delicate sweetness to the classic format without compromising the dry vermouth's botanical dryness. An elegant and entirely distinctive martini.

Gold Rush 2 oz Plymouth Honey · ¾ oz fresh lemon juice · ½ oz honey syrup. Shaken hard over ice, served over a large cube in a rocks glass. The bourbon Gold Rush format translated perfectly into gin — the honey-on-honey layering producing depth and warmth alongside the lemon's brightness in a cocktail of unusual harmony and honeyed generosity.

Honey Collins 2 oz Plymouth Honey · ¾ oz fresh lemon juice · ½ oz simple syrup · chilled soda water. Built over ice in a tall glass. The most refreshing and most broadly accessible Plymouth Honey serve — the honey and vanilla character carrying through the soda's carbonation in a long drink that is simultaneously sweet, bright, and deeply satisfying.

Honey Negroni 1 oz Plymouth Honey · 1 oz Campari · 1 oz sweet vermouth · orange twist. Stirred over ice, served in a rocks glass. The honey gin's delicate sweetness bridges Campari's bitterness and vermouth's botanical complexity in a Negroni that is slightly softer, slightly more aromatic, and slightly more accessible than the standard gin version — an excellent entry point for Negroni-curious customers.