After nearly a decade curating one of the world’s most formidable gin collections, Singapore’s ATLAS finally bottles its own identity with the release of ATLAS London Dry Gin.
In the past decade, gin has undergone one of the most dramatic reinventions in the modern spirits world. Once a category dominated by a handful of heritage London Dry brands, it has since blossomed into a global canvas for distillers, bartenders and bar owners alike — from hyper-local botanical expressions to cocktail-focused house spirits.
For a bar like ATLAS — arguably the most recognisable temple to gin in Singapore with a collection of over 1,300 different expressions housed in a soaring tower centrepiece — the arrival of its own house gin feels less like a novelty and more like a natural evolution.
The grand lobby lounge recently unveiled ATLAS London Dry Gin, a bespoke expression developed over the course of a year that’s bottled at a cocktail-friendly 47% ABV. Designed specifically for use behind its bar, the spirit anchors ATLAS’ cocktail programme while reflecting the venue’s long-standing devotion to gin.
First, a little about gin’s fortunes in recent years. Gin experienced a resurgence since the early 2010s, driven by two parallel movements. On one hand, a wave of craft distillers from Australia to Japan began experimenting with native botanicals, pushing the spirit far beyond its traditional juniper-led profile. On the other, cocktail bars themselves became increasingly influential in shaping how spirits are conceived and consumed.
In cities with mature cocktail cultures — London, New York, Melbourne and Singapore among them — it is no longer unusual for leading bars to collaborate with distilleries on bespoke bottlings tailored to their house style.
In fact, some years back ATLAS collaborated with California-based St George Spirits for a once-off, limited edition St George ATLAS Orange Gin. Creating a permanent house gin was almost inevitable.
Developed in collaboration with Australia’s Four Pillars Distillery, what distinguishes the ATLAS London Dry Gin from many craft gins entering the market today is clarity of purpose. Rather than chasing novelty through obscure botanicals or overtly aromatic profiles, the spirit was built with classic cocktails in mind. The structure is deliberately traditional: a confident juniper backbone supported by citrus peel, angelica root and soft floral notes. Other botanicals — including coriander seed, orris root, lavender, roasted almonds, vetiver and fresh orange peel — provide depth without overwhelming the gin’s central architecture.
The result? A spirit designed to behave well in the glass, particularly in spirit-forward classics.
At ATLAS, that means the Martini.
Few drinks are as unforgiving as a Martini; every nuance of the base spirit is laid bare. The bar’s own ATLAS Martini has long been a signature serve, and the new gin effectively turns that drink into a house statement — one where the bar controls every variable, from the vermouth to the base spirit itself.
In many ways, ATLAS London Dry Gin mirrors the ethos of the venue that created it: elegant, structured, and self-assured.
CEO Vicky Hwang describes the project as an effort to produce a spirit “deeply connected to ATLAS… refined and built to last”. That sense of longevity is key. ATLAS is not really a bar that chases trends. Since opening, its identity has remained rooted in classic cocktail culture, presented on a scale few venues can match. And for a gin palace that has spent almost aa decade curating one of the world’s great gin collections, creating a spirit of its own is definitely the closing of a circle.
For guests ordering a Martini beneath the glow of its gin tower, however, the experience is simpler than all that.
They are, quite literally, drinking the house.
ATLAS London Dry Gin is available exclusively at the bar and through its online shop, with a 500ml bottle priced at S$98+.
[Photo credits: ATLAS Singapore | Benjamin Sim]
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