I've sampled some really nice gins in my travels. Bars in the UK and Japan treat gin very special. I asked for a gin and tonic in a hotel bar in England and they brought me 5 bottles of gin on a tray and had me smell each one and pick the one I wanted. They brought the tray out again for second round. Seems like a European thing but they don't mix the tonic with the gin. They bring you the gin in a glass with ice cubes and a small bottle of tonic on the side and you mix it yourself. In Heathrow waiting to fly home, they had gin tastings in the duty free store. They put all kinds of stuff in gin to compliment it. Depending on the gin: cucumber, blueberry, strawberry, cracked black pepper... The gins I've liked are Monkey 47, which cost me ~$23 for a gin and tonic in a bar in a very upscale mall in Osaka. Even the ice cubes were special. In addition to Monkey 47 (Germany), I like Brockmans (England), Hendricks (Scotland), Akori (Japan inspired made in Spain) and if you want a good, inexpensive juniper strong one, Gordon's (USA).