A gin boom but it's nothing like the old days

In 1751, the artist William Hogarth created his famous print, "Gin Lane," showing chaos as a drunken mother drops her baby in the gin-soaked London streets. (That print was commissioned by the beer brewers.) Back then annual consumption was estimated at 48 bottles of gin per head - . more if you leave out children, though some kids drank it, too.

Tracing A Gin-Soaked Trail In London : The Salt : NPR:

In Scotland, some long-time whisky makers are switching over to gin. In Germany, people who distill traditional brandies are doing the same. The world is in the middle of a gin distillery boom, and it is coming to America. ... 

At a bar in central London called Graphic, more than 300 gin brands line the shelves. Manager Dom Balfour says the owners didn't set out to create a gin destination — "it's just something that happened over time a few years ago." 

"Someone took an interest in gin and started to increase the amount of gins. Before you know it, you've got 100. Then you've got 200. Then you've got 300, and it keeps going."

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