Gin bar enters world record books

A gin bar has entered the Guinness Book of Records for having the “most varieties of gin commercially available” in the world, boasting 500 varieties.

Doce Gin Club’s gin selection

The Doce Gin Club in Valencia, Spain, opened in 2009 with just 112 varieties of gin. The world record was confirmed in August 2014 when the bar officially stocked 429 varieties of gin, which has since grown to 518, as reported by Gnomes National News Service. 

The bar’s range includes limited edition Bombay Sapphire and Beefeater gins, which are no longer manufactured, plus the Castellón-made Ginself which is made with tiger nuts – the main ingredient of Valencia’s typical sweet, milky drink, horchata.

The bar also stocks the Spirit of Hven – an organic wheat gin handcrafted on the Swedish island of Hven that is both pot distilled and oak matured. It is the only gin available at Danish restaurant Noma Restaurant, which was voted the world’s number one restaurant last year.

The bar’s owner, Javier Borja, believes the secret to a perfect gin and tonic is pouring the gin from a height to trap oxygen, and then pouring the tonic over a spoon to prevent the bubbles bursting.