Short thought, no fermentation in gin.

There's alot better tasting things. Like some grandaddy purp.

I work in spirits production.

Gin is literally just vodka with some juniper berries and other aromatics on a couple of evaporation a trays inside this distillation column. As in like, a few tablespoons of dried juniper berries to provide aromatics to thousands of litres of gin.

There's no aging process for vodka, which by definition is supposed to be colorless, odorless and "tasteless". (as possible)

Whisky on the other hand, you've got different grains (primarily rye, wheat, barley and corn) fermenting, and then aged to finish in barrels of various wood types for a minimum of three years but often much longer in warehouses that usually aren't climate controlled eventually to be drained, filtered, colored (color isn't a reflection of anything but how dark the marketers decided it should be), and blended at different ratios for different flavor profiles.

I'm unfamiliar with the production of nonalcoholic spirits, but I'm pretty confident if there was some cheap easy way to arrive at complex whisky flavor profiles, we wouldn't be leaving barrels in warehouses for decades to age.

Also, secondary point, the reason why the gin aisle at your local alcohol store is filled with exuberant flamboyant bottles is because gin is just so easy to make that they need frill it up with bells and whistles to make it seem elegant or justify some top shelf price. Whereas when you go to the whisky aisle, a top shelf whisky is usually a simple bottle with a simple label, because the actual product is what's inside the bottle, not the bottle itself.

In a lot of ways, gin and whisky is like Proof of Stake vs Proof of Work

Hope this helps :)

The type of barrel used in whiskey production also greatly impacts the taste.

If you’re interested in NA beverages, see if you can find Asahi Dry Zero.

It's because gin already tastes like shit. Just add some tonic water and a twist of lime and you're good.

This doesn't answer your question, but I've heard a lot about a "wine proxy" (non alc wine substitute) that's basically really nicely blended vinegars made for drinking, called Acid League. They don't ship outside the US so I haven't been able to try them. If you're into wine, I'd be curious to know your thoughts on them! For another non alc spirit that's not "gin", try Lyre's Italian Spritz, it's an excellent "Aperol" (best for spritzes, clearly) – the bitter flavour means it still tastes like an adult drink. Forget about Lyre's American Malt though, tastes like syrup. For beer, Mikkeller's Drink'in in the Sun is great. Unlike most non alc beers, this one isn't de-alcoholised, it's brewed like normal beer, but they choose a yeast that produces very little alcohol (it's 0.3%).

The herb/berry components of gin are probably both easier to replicate in NA and more recognizable on the palette.

I believe whiskey flavors are generated by the grain component in the mashbill (corn/wheat/rye) pre-distillation and the aging process after. Guessing it's much, much harder.

If you're a fan of sour beers, I've seen one (Barrell brothers I think) where they remove the alcohol from a traditionally produced beer using a vacuum. Apparently the alcohol is then repurposed into canned cocktails. It's pretty cool and surprisingly delicious.

Alcohol lets a lot of organic compounds dissolve into the solution. I'd bet that's necessary for the aging process to work correctly.