No, this isn't about proof, it's more about something with little proof at all. This may come as a shock to some people, but much of what we drink is driven by marketing. People generally need a better reason than "It's there" to try something new, so drinks firms will pay a lot of money to convince people that they need to buy something. One way they do this is classify something as being a "Premium" spirit.
Around Minnesota, Premium means something entirely different - but to the general population it's implied to be better than your average product. In gasoline, it's assumed that premium fuel is better than regular so people will pay more for it. The reality is that you buy the minimum octane for your car because anything higher than that is unnecessary. A similar analogy can be said for premium spirits: There's no need to use a premium spirit in a cocktail that'll mask the flavor of the spirit.
But like any good marketing arms race, premium doesn't cut it anymore. Now we have an "ultra" or "super" premium spirits category. This is when there's too many "premium" brands in a sector and the company wants to charge more for something that's probably on par with any of the premium brands. Take the oft-maligned Trump vodka, the first ultra-premium vodka. The market effectively pushed it down into the premium vodka's price range. Now an ultra-premium vodka needs something more than a name... like filtering your spirit through crushed diamonds. Nevermind that diamonds are inert and activated charcoal's porosity is the reason it's used as a filter. It looks good on a label.
Calling a spirit "ultra-premium" means something different to me. It's a sign that an under served market has finally hit the big time. The introduction of Patron meant that Tequila had finally shed its "shooter and worm" persona and had the kind of respect given to Scotch and Bourbon. The market conditions that made Patron possible now means you can have Tequila bars, much like there are whiskey bars.
So that's why the coincidentally timed announcements of (rī)1 and Beefeater 24 means that both rye and gin have finally hit the big time. For (rī)1, it's a sign that bartenders are looking for a better rye to use in their classic mixed drinks. Of course Black Maple Hill has been selling ryes in the $40 range for years now, this is considered ultra-premium because it's better than Beam's yellow-label rye. Beefeater 24 is a different beast entirely, but still a welcome sign. This is the first major brand's gin that's meant for sipping. It's Pernod's reaction to the craft distillery movement that has embraced gin as something more creative than a race-to-the-bottom vodka. Granted, by these terms there have been ultra-premium gins on the market for years, but having a major brand seeking the sipping market means that gin should earn more respect from your everyday consumer.