A DRINKS entrepreneur is looking for help from gardeners and foragers in Scotland in order to preserve the provenance of a unique spirit.
Jonathan Engels has recently started harvesting Scottish juniper for the latest batch of Crossbill Gin.
The drink was initially launched in a small run last year and was said to be the only gin on the market made from entirely Scottish botanicals.
However, instead of hand-picking the distilling juniper across several weeks Mr Engels intends to harvest and process as much as possible in a shorter period in order to preserve the flavour profile of the drink.
During the first run, he found fresher juniper gave a different flavour to that which was used in the weeks after it was picked.
But according to Mr Engels, who is also behind the Pincer Vodka brand which contains milk thistle and elderflower, the sustained effort of ensuring juniper supply will leave him short of time to get enough Scottish rosehip berries to continue producing Crossbill in the volumes he wants.
As a result he is asking people to pick rosehip from their gardens and local areas then get in touch with him via the Crossbill website or social media with a view to him then buying it.
The still used for making the gin has also been moved from Argyll to Aviemore in order to make sure the juniper is as fresh as possible when it is being used.
Mr Engels worked with the Forestry Commission, conservation charity Plantlife Scotland and the Inshriach Estate, Aviemore, to revive the tradition of juniper harvesting.
He has previously spoken of the difficulty in maintaining a sustainable supply as it takes three years to ripen, can only be picked once per year and care has to be taken not to knock off growing seed cones.
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