There are certain addresses in London that carry weight — not the weight of commerce or celebrity, but of story. Portobello Road is one such address. Long before the antiques market made it a weekend pilgrimage for collectors, and long before the pastel-fronted houses became fodder for social media, this narrow artery through Notting Hill was a place where things of genuine craft changed hands. It seems fitting, then, that a gin bearing its name should aspire to the same quiet authenticity.
A London Dry With London in Its Bones
Portobello Road No. 171 London Dry Gin is built on a classical botanical bill — nine ingredients that read like a masterclass in restraint. Juniper leads, as it must in any London Dry worthy of the designation, but behind it sits a supporting cast that speaks to centuries of distilling tradition: coriander seed for lift, lemon and orange peel for brightness, angelica and orris root for structure, cassia bark and nutmeg for warmth, and liquorice root to bind it all together with a gentle sweetness. There is nothing exotic here, nothing reaching for novelty. This is a gin that knows exactly what it wants to be.
At 42% ABV, it sits at a strength that allows the botanicals room to express themselves without the spirit becoming aggressive. I find this a considered choice — just enough backbone for a gin and tonic, enough complexity to hold its own in a Martini. The price point, hovering around £32, places it squarely in the territory of a gin you reach for regularly rather than one that gathers dust as a special occasion curiosity.
The Craft of Familiarity
What strikes me most about No. 171 is how it demonstrates that tradition, done well, is never boring. The London Dry category has been under siege in recent years from gins infused with everything from seaweed to butterfly pea flower, and while I admire innovation, there is something deeply satisfying about a distillery that commits to the classic blueprint and executes it with precision. The nine-botanical recipe here is tightly orchestrated — each ingredient has a role, none is superfluous.
The Portobello Road Distillery has, with this expression, produced a gin that feels rooted in its place and its tradition. It is the kind of bottle that reminds you why London Dry became the global standard in the first place. For that clarity of purpose alone, it earns its place on any serious gin shelf.
Best served in a Copa glass with a quality Indian tonic, a generous twist of orange peel, and perhaps a single cassia quill — on a cool evening when you want something that feels like coming home to a well-told story.
