# British Distillers Hold Three Quarters of Israel's Imported Gin

> A tasting hosted by the British Embassy in July put small English and Northern Irish producers in front of Israeli distributors, in a category the UK already dominates.

- Source: Israel Today
- Canonical URL: https://israeltoday.news/article/british-gin-israel-import-market
- Author: Eitan Regev
- Section: Business
- Published: 2026-07-17T20:24:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-07-17T20:24:00.000Z
- Tags: Trade, United Kingdom, Drinks

---

More than 75 percent of the gin imported into Israel comes from British distilleries, and the United Kingdom produces over half of the world's gin exports. UK gin sold into Israel was worth close to 4 million pounds, about 5.4 million dollars, in 2024. Total trade between the two countries reached 6 billion pounds, roughly 8 billion dollars, in 2025.

On 13 July the British Embassy hosted a tasting for Israeli distributors. Debbie Shapiro, the embassy's country director for business and trade, and Ambassador Simon Walters were present, alongside Andrew Parsons, master distiller and co-founder of Sky Wave Gin. Brighton Gin from England and Shortcross Gin from Northern Ireland were among the smaller producers shown, next to Sky Wave Signature London Dry and Cotswolds Dry Gin.

The established names are already on Israeli shelves: The Botanist, Greenall's, Tanqueray and Bombay Sapphire. What an embassy tasting is actually for is the tier below them, where a distillery's problem is not demand but finding an importer willing to carry a small volume. The local competition is real too, with M&H producing a Levantine gin domestically.

---

Originally published by Israel Today. Free to cite with attribution and a link to https://israeltoday.news/article/british-gin-israel-import-market.