The Gin Festival in Nottingham, which will take place on 25-26 November this year, will see dedicated bars and distilleries appearing all over the city.

According to East Midlands Business Link, gin sales have been growing considerably in recent years and surpassed the £1 billion mark in 2016. Sales of the spirit are projected to be even higher in the coming years, hitting £1.37 billion by 2020.

The main driver for gin’s popularity has been the rise of artisan gins, the publication noted, citing data from UHY Hacker Young.

James Simmonds, partner at the organisation’s Nottingham office, told the news provider that the gin festival in Nottingham is a real celebration for independent producers.

“Five years ago, artisan gin was a relatively unknown product, but now it’s very common to see five or 10 different premium gins on the menu or on a supermarket shelf,” he asserted.

Mr Simmonds also pointed out that, with such spirits typically retailing for £30 a bottle, it is a “high-margin industry”.

Co-founder of the Gin Festival in Nottingham Jym Harris told the news provider that gin “lends itself to creativity” because distillers are able to use such a wide range of botanicals to create their own signature flavour of the spirit. Of course, they need to begin with the highest quality neutral grain spirit too.

When it comes to drinking gin, one celebrity chef believes many of us have been preparing our drinks all wrong. Heston Blumenthal recently told Femail Food&Drink that to get the perfect gin and tonic you need to add the tonic to the glass last.

That means you should put the gin, citrus fruit of your choice and then ice in before adding the mixer as a final touch.

“This order of assembly will allow the effervescence of the tonic to mix all of the flavours together without much stirring,” he asserted.