Just south of Aviemore, on an estate littered with converted firetrucks, high-spec yurts and a sauna made from a horse box, something very special has occurred in the world of gin.

Walter Micklethwait - jack of all trades, and actually, master of all - lives on Inshriach Estate, with his mum Lucy, girlfriend Lizzy and dog Monty.

Micklethwait has packed in a biography's-worth of stories into the past 15 years of his life, some of which you'd believe (working as a set designer and an antiques dealer) and many of which you wouldn't (he spent the first four years of his life living in a house set into an arch in a railway bridge in East London, and aged 20 was summoned to Jordan by black market traders to assess the credibility of a stolen Picasso. His verdict: quite possibly real, and quite possibly worth tens of millions of pounds).

For now, home for Micklethwait is Inshriach estate. The estate itself is home to Inshriach House, which is used as a wedding venue and is arguably one of the most picturesque fine homes in Scotland thanks to its pristine Edwardian facade, traditional interior and cornucopia of pieces filling the space collected from travels and other people's lives.

The estate, with its many different buildings, can be best described as a dysfunctional family. There is grand, fatherly Inshriach house itself. Clustered around it is a small archipelago of supportive cottages where Micklethwait lives with Lizzy, and Lucy next door. Then there are the rebels, the mad aunties and unorthodox cousins - the Beer Moth, a former fire service truck converted into a two person self-catering B&B complete with mini stove and eating space. A yurt, tardis-like and fantastical has a brass four poster bed and, again, a stove (danger isn't something that concerns Micklethwait, but he reassures me that there is no health and safety breach here).

Most recently, a sweet Shepherd's hut has joined the brood, and a sauna and hot tub made from a horse box and trailer respectively can be located on the riverside, accessed, if you like, by boat.

All of these family members (excluding the house of course) have been made by Micklethwait himself, with some help from invited makers and friends.  It's ironic that Micklethwait's mum is a retired children's author, because this is about as close to falling into a story book as it's possible to be without getting papercuts.

All these self-contained holiday units are the estate's way of making money, and successful they are too (Oprah Winfrey apparently mentioned the Beer Moth on her show earlier in the year, and press coverage has come in thick and fast from French Marie Claire et al).

But Micklethwait's latest venture, into the world of gin distilling, is his first paddle in alcoholic waters. It's also the most different from his usual experience of building, fixing, and sprinkling some of what could be called 'Micklethwait magic dust' on anything he touches - an immeasurable confidence and good taste that ensures all of his projects, no matter how tired and sorry they are at the start, end up effortlessly cool. 

His summers are ordinarily spent organising and enjoying the Insider Festival - a three day event involving bands, DJs and an enviable line-up of programmes, including foodie happenings and activities for children. But not this year. The festival took a break, and in its place came the construction of a custom-built bar on the estate where inside a very special gin was distilled just earlier this month. Micklethwait isn't exactly the type to take a holiday.

Rewind two years to the Old Bridge Inn in Aviemore. Micklethwait was introduced to Jonathan Engels, owner of the Pincer vodka brand, who was at the time on the hunt for precious juniper berries to go into his Crossbill gin. 

"When researching traditional gin production I discovered that when the Dutch first invented Jenever - the precursor to gin - the juniper they used was imported from the north and east of Scotland," says Engels.

"I had been working with the forestry commission and plantlife.org who allowed me to take samples from Glen More estate, which has abundance due to tight deer control and remoteness. 

"When up on a particularly disappointing picking trip in 2012, I was introduced to Walter. We got talking and he said there was lots of juniper on his land too, and so kept an eye out for good juniper producing plants on his land all year.

"When we went back in 2013, we knew exactly where to go to pick the berries and we got a good harvest."

Next came Crossbill Gin's other vital ingredient - rose hips. After an initial drought, members of a community group in Bourtreehill, North Ayrshire, where rosehips are many, offered their help and the area's resources. When enough produce had been harvested, distilling began in November. 

Mr Engels bought copper pot stills from Portugal to start the process, which had to be completed at Inshriach for the spirit to warrant its 'Highland' name. Previously distilled at a micro-brewery in Argyll using water from Loch a'Bhaillidh, this year's batch uses Inshriach water and Inshriach hard graft to come to fruition.

"The first day of distilling this year, October 29, was so cold that at Inshriach that we had to make a special tweed 'jacket' out of blankets for the still to keep the top part warm enough to allow the spirit vapours out," remembers Engels.

"We used an independent bottlers in West Lothian. Inshriach is a site of specialist interest, so we only utilised existing buildings for distilling. 

"The first bottling was completed November 7. We were completely at the mercy of the elements as to when we did the harvest, as it needed to be done just before the first frost. I'm happy to say we judged it perfectly this year and created 1500 bottles."

The first bottling, of 720 bottles, sold out in just 36 hours. The next will be available later this month.

Because of the juniper's pungent smell and flavour, as few as six berries go into each bottle- or at least that's the case in theory.  

"It's usually six berries per bottle needed, but we are probably using rather more in an unscientifically full-flavoured approach" says Micklethwait, sprinkling some more of that unconventional dust on proceedings.

The Bar at Inshriach Farm, already granted a temporary licence for an informal bar launch party on Bonfire night, will be open next year subject to planning and license for patrons to enjoy a Crossbill Highland Gin in the place of its birth. Where better to enjoy it than a watering hole filled with reclaimed signs, wooden spoons carved by Micklethwait himself, mannequin dummies and all sorts of other treasures from its owner's madcap life?

"Jonny brings the gin, equipment, money and everything else like that," he concludes.

"I bring some berries and a little bit of personality.

"And it works."

The second bottling of Crossbill Highland Gin is available to purchase from the Good Spirits Company, Royal Mile Whiskies and www.crossbillgin.com from the end of the month. Inshriach House is available to rent all year round at www.inshriachhouse.com; the self-catering accommodation on the estate can be rented from www.canopyandstars.co.uk