FIRST JOURNEYS - 80 GINS AROUND THE WORLD - PIN 53 OF 80
COLOMBO GIN, UK
(Inspired by Sri Lanka)
AROUND THE WORLD, ONE BOTTLE AT A TIME,
PHILEAS FOGG WOULD SURELY APPROVE
A wartime recipe, a little ingenuity from Colombo and a gin that travelled from Ceylon to England and back again.
Sri Lanka has a fascinating history when it comes to spirits, and Colombo No.7 is one of those gins where the back story is almost as interesting as what's in the bottle.
Rockland Distilleries was established in 1924 and is now a fourth-generation family business. It was originally set up to produce arrack, the traditional Sri Lankan spirit made from fermented coconut flower sap, but during the Second World War the distillery found itself making spirits for the British war effort.
At the time, there were restrictions around producing what were regarded as “non-native” spirits such as gin in Britain's overseas territories. Rockland persisted in wanting to make gin in Ceylon, and the eventual compromise was the introduction of Ceylon Made Foreign Liquor, or CMFL, regulations, which permitted the production of these spirits locally. Similar legislation was introduced in India as IMFL, or Indian Made Foreign Liquor.
And this is where the story of Colombo No.7 begins.
Rockland's founder Carl de Silva Wijeyeratne was a fan of Tanqueray and wanted to create a gin in that style. Unfortunately, wartime trade restrictions made it difficult to obtain many of the ingredients normally used in a London Dry, so he had to improvise.
Juniper, angelica and liquorice formed the backbone, but locally available ingredients were brought into the recipe — cinnamon bark, curry leaves, ginger root and coriander seeds. The cinnamon was particularly appropriate for Colombo, with the city's famous Cinnamon Gardens providing a local source.
Rather than compromising the gin, the restrictions created something quite different. The seven botanicals gave the spirit a distinctly Sri Lankan character while retaining the familiar juniper backbone.
The name Colombo No.7 reflects both its home city and those seven botanicals.
When the war ended and trade routes opened up again, Carl created a more conventional gin using the ingredients that were now readily available. This became Rockland Dry Gin, which is still part of the company's range today, alongside Rockland Lemon Gin.
Colombo No.7, however, disappeared into the family archives.
It was Carl's grandson Amal de Silva Wijeyeratne who brought it back. Amal joined the family business in 2005 and helped rebuild Rockland after the devastating 2004 tsunami. While going through the company's history, he rediscovered the old recipe and decided that it deserved another life.
There was one problem. Increasingly restrictive alcohol regulations in Sri Lanka made producing the gin locally difficult, so Amal looked overseas. The recipe was taken to Langley Distillery in the West Midlands, where it was recreated using the original seven botanicals.
Colombo No.7 was launched in 2015, and the recipe remains remarkably faithful to the one developed during the war. It is bottled at 43.1% ABV and is still described by Rockland as a distinctly Sri Lankan take on a London Dry.
I think this is one of those gins where the botanical list doesn't sound particularly revolutionary until you taste it. Juniper, coriander and angelica give you that familiar gin structure, but then the cinnamon, ginger and curry leaves start to appear, adding warmth and a gentle savoury quality.
And it has clearly stood the test of time. Colombo No.7 picked up Silver at the 2025 IWSC, with the judges noting citrus and juniper alongside a gentle chilli-like heat and sweet citrus. It's also still being produced today, more than a decade after its revival.
Rockland has expanded the Colombo range since I first wrote about it too. Colombo No.8 adds ginseng to the original seven botanicals, while Colombo No.9 was developed with Sri Lankan tea company Dilmah Ceylon Tea, adding Earl Grey tea and bergamot. So the family has taken the original idea and continued to play with Sri Lankan ingredients rather than simply leaving the recipe frozen in history.
There is also a Colombo No.7 Navy Strength, bottled at 57%. Rockland says this version recreates the gin that would have been served to the Royal Navy's East Indies Station when it was based in Colombo during the war. It follows the same botanical recipe but has an extra helping of curry leaves, giving it a little more spice and intensity.
And this is the one that brings us neatly to the title.
The Navy Strength is particularly good in a Negroni, where the extra alcohol and spicy curry-leaf character can stand up to the bitter Campari and sweet vermouth. Rockland itself recommends the Navy Strength for a Negroni, and I can see why.
What I love about Colombo No.7 is that this isn't a gin that has had Sri Lankan botanicals added to make it sound exotic. The Sri Lankan ingredients were there because, during wartime, they were what Carl could actually get hold of. A problem with supply became a recipe, the recipe became part of the family's history, and nearly 80 years later it is still being distilled.
It's a rather good example of how necessity can sometimes produce the most interesting spirits.
“A gin that travelled from Ceylon to England and back again.”
Negroni
"Show me a bottle
and I'll tell you a story."