I suppose as a journalist I should question whether by taking the oath I am, in effect gagging, myself. Frankly I don’t as I am very positive about the Gin sector.

As city analyst, Trevor Stirling said last week at the Gin Debate (see news story on drinksint.com), standard gin is cheap, declining and boring. Whereas the so-called super-premium category led by the likes of Hendrick’s, Beefeater 24 and Tanquerary 10, is booming.

The Gin Guild is only a few months old but it is forging ahead in promoting the botanical-based white spirit. All sorts of plans, initiatives are in the ferment. The atmosphere at the dinner last night at the Savile Club in London’s Mayfair, was positively bubbling. The speeches were fun, delightfully free of pomposity and short. The overall feeling was that everyone was having a good time.

The induction ceremony for ‘Warden Rectifiers’ (producers and brand owners) and ‘Rectifiers’ was a bit hit and miss compared to the impressive but regimented ceremony for the Scotch whisky industry’s Keepers of the Quaich. But that added to the charm. This is a new association and things need to bed in. Holding a handful of junipers while taking the oath is nicely symbolic but a bit fiddly. Director general Nicholas Cook will undoubtedly get it sorted. Berries or no berries. Anyway, nice badge or brooch.

I look forward to rectifying any misconceptions, misunderstanding, misnomers about Gin.