Los Angeles is literally littered with burger joints. It’s the fast food capital of the world. There’s a burger spot on every corner. If it’s not burgers, it’s pizza. If it’s not pizza, it’s tacos.

As a devotee of all three foods, I follow countless local restaurants on social media, always on the hunt for the next great bite. I will drive across town for a life-changing meal, so long as it’s an outstanding version of a classic profile. I’m far less interested in fusion or extreme versions of anything. I don’t want a deep-fried taco with an extra layer of cheese, or a guacamole burger stacked with bacon and other accoutrements. I don’t want anything on my pizza other than the classic staples.

When you find something incredible that achieves new heights by simply creating a better version of a time-tested formula, it’s exciting. That’s how I felt eating at Burgers Never Say Day on Glendale for the first time. Two patties, smashed and flattened, along with ketchup, mustard, pickles, and onions. That’s it. What makes it so good? Balance and texture.

The same analogy works for booze. Some brands enter the market with a radical interpretation of a classic profile hoping to shock and surprise consumers, while others hype their crazy cask enhancements and Frankensteinian maturation process untested by most sane humans. Yet, there is nothing—and I mean NOTHING—more impressive than a brand that grabs your attention with a knockout version of a proven concept that's simply better than the iterations which proceeded it.

Enter the Cotswolds Dry Gin, without a doubt, bar none, hands down, the best gin I've tasted since Four Pillars launched with the Rare Dry some years back. Granted, it's been available here in the states for a few years now, but I'm late to the game. Since I got my original sample bottles at the end of May, I've consumed at least 25 Cotswolds gin and tonics at home after work. It makes the most delicious, most fragrant, insanely pungent cocktail that still tastes like a classic gin and tonic, and not some new interpretation of gin that I'm going to lose interest in a few weeks from now.

Using a 100% wheat base spirit and a 15 hour botanical soak, part of Cotswolds secret is the single shot distillation which sees a single heart cut captured at 83% ABV, rested for five days, then diluted to 46% with no chill filtering. Beyond a little lime and pink grapefruit peel, there's nothing out of the ordinary in the botanical recipe. It's a juniper and lavender-focused gin that sources from locally-grown herbs and spices in the British Cotswolds. But, man, it is just outstanding. Why is it so good? Balance and texture.

There’s a reason some recipes have stood the test of time. Improving on them isn’t easy, so when you see it done right, you have to tip your hat.

-David Driscoll