Can there be non-alco gin?

Like with so many other things in life, “It depends” or “Yes and no” would be the best answer.

The EU Spirit Drink Regulations from 2008 defines gin as predominantly juniper flavoured spirit with minimum retail strength of 37.5 % alc/vol. Also, in the US and Britain, the minimum strength is part of the legal description. So, de jure, no, gin cannot be non-alcoholic.

At the same time when someone walks like a duck, swims like a duck, and quacks like a duck, he’s a duck. If the distilled drink functions as a gin, minus headaches after excessive consumption, why wouldn’t you call it a gin?

Not all distilled spirits are gins though. For example, Seedlip, which has created this market, says it is not a gin because it does not contain any juniper or other traditional gin botanicals.

With this logic, Flâneur is definitely a non-alcoholic gin as it contains many classical ingredients of gin, including juniper. Hence, it also works well as a gin substitute in many cocktails or mocktails.