Gin is a spirit for all seasons. In warm weather it’s the floral anchor to a fizzing gin and tonic, and when temperatures drop, you can always curl up with a straight-to-the-point gin martini. Whatever your mood and whatever the weather, gin is prepared to star in your favorite cocktail. With roots that date back to the 13th century, gin and similar juniper-based spirits are some of the oldest distillates on record. Modern gin as we know it today evolved from Dutch genever, which, by the 17th century, was made as a distillation of juniper and malt wine. According to some accounts, the English saw the Dutch drinking genever to boost morale during the Thirty Years’ War and brought gin making to their home country. The spirit caught on across England, particularly after the English government introduced legislation in the 17th century that made gin distilling more profitable in an effort to compete with imported French brandy.…