That's the spirit: discover the Scottish gin distillers making waves in 2019

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Avva Scottish Gin

Avva PINK Scottish Gin launches from the award winning Speyside gin brand Avva Scottish Gin. The prestigious Royal Highland Show will be used as a launch pad for the new product.  Last year saw the distillery win first prize at the event within Scotland’s Larder Live.  Hundreds of Thousands of visitors flock to the 4 day event in Edinburgh to see the very best of livestock, food, drink, show jumping, gardening and many more attractions.  This has been a key event in the distilleries calendar for many years. 

Image credited to Wil Freeborn.

Owner Jill Brown comments: "Every year we aim to have something new for our customers at the Royal Highland Show.  It is such a fantastic event and we were absolutely ecstatic to have won a much sought after red ticket from the 2018 event.

"For the past 6-8 months we’ve been working really hard to perfect our recipe and have again used local fruit from Wester Hardmuir fruit farm at Nairn to create our Pink Scottish Gin.  We have also listened to customer feed back and have launched this in a 50cl bottle and this will join our core range of products, Avva Scottish Gin, Navy Strength Gin, Cofaidh and Fruit Liqueurs."

This also coincides with the company launching 5cl bottles which are perfect for travellers, gift favours as well as being able to now meet the demands of the corporate sector and boutique hotels.

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Arran Gin

Arran Gin - the story of an island shopkeeper and artisanal baker, coming together to create a genuinely unique liquid and gin experience. This collaboration between two rural food businesses, both obsessed with foraging local ingredients, has resulted in a bold new taste: "Through foraging, we know it's possible to find citrus notes in a land of no lemons, bitters and spice without exotic flown-in ingredients, or sweetness and perfume from neglected marshland. Common plants with a mightier effect than you might think!"

Arran Gin is loaded with at least double the weight of botanicals used in normal gins – it packs a punch. Only interesting plants are selected for their big taste and interplay: sea lettuce, hogweed seed, meadowsweet, noble fir, lemon balm and fuchsia… powerhouse flavours for the Gin Team. In a very crowded market Arran Gin strive to taste different and go further. 

During their quest for sustainable botanical habitats around the island (the team spends a lot of time on kayaks and in hiking boots) they stumbled upon a stunning location for a forthcoming micro-distillery and visitor experience: The Arran GinHouse at Cladach will open in 2020. This is a magical location, at the shoreline of Brodick Castle, and is fondly remembered by both locals and tourists as a destination nature centre. Today the charmingly dilapidated ‘gin shack’ has been a base for recipe development, talks and tastings – including a recent pop-up Beach Party. The distillery site will soon become a bespoke destination, with the distilling complemented by a Gin School and Foraging Trips (‘a beach-to-bottle experience’). 

As for the gin itself: big floral and herby aromas - coastal and vegetal, evoke the scents of summer shorelines and meadows. The taste is smooth and creamy, with sweetness, citrus and spice – intriguing and distinct from the nose. 

Sipped neat over ice, this gin is big enough to keep giving on its own. For a classic G&T: big chunks of ice, Fever Tree Med tonic, and garnish with a grapefruit and mint combo – savoury and fresh. Straying from tonic, Arran Gin excels with rose lemonade or ginger ale. Fever’s new Spiced Orange Ginger Ale is a winner.

The team’s next creation will be a locally-picked bramble liqueur, with other recipes in the pipeline. We are fortunate to have a rich island larder to work with.  

To find out more, email info@isleofarrangin.com or follow them on Instagram, Facebook or visit the website. 
 
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Boe Gin 

The Boe Gin family, featuring Boe Scottish Gin, Boe Violet Gin, Boe Peach & Hibiscus, and Boe Scottish Bramble Gin Liqueurs, are lovingly produced in small batches at the distillery in the village of Throsk, five miles to the east of Stirling.

Boe Violet gin has at its heart the award winning Boe Scottish Gin, and the addition of violets creates a stylish gin with a light, delicate taste and beautiful colour and aroma.

Enjoy with tonic and a slice of pink grapefruit, in a cocktail or with the mixer and accompaniment of your choice.

Visit www.boegin.com to find out more. 

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Kinrara Gin

Established in 2017, Kinrara Distillery first started producing gins in April 2018. Within eight weeks they were finalists in three categories at the Scottish Gin Awards.

The distillery is situated in a converted 200 year farm steading on the 10,000 acre Kinrara Estate just outside of Aviemore. The estate has been hugely influenced by two extraordinary women. The Duchess of Gordon, the estates founder, patron to Robert Burns and founder of the Gordon Highlanders and Lady Lucy Houston, Philanthropist and saviour of the Spitfire. Both women were great patrons of the Scottish Highlands, and Kinrara Distillery hope to reflect their influence through their spirits.

They currently have two 100l copper stills and have so far produced eight unique gins. Everything is carefully and lovingly distilled, bottled and packaged by hand within the distillery, by a small and talented team.

The first gin off the stills was the Scottish Highland Dry gin. After less than a year in production, it was voted in the Top 10 for the Scottish Gin Society Consumer Choice Awards 2019. At 41.5% and with a mix of 10 botanicals, including rosehips and rowanberries foraged from the estate, they recommend serving it with Mediterranean Fever Tree tonic and a twist of orange peel to bring out the citrus notes.

Their Hibiscus gin is a take on ‘pink gin’ done properly… they take the Highland Dry gin and compound Hibiscus flowers, rose petals and sweet orange peel into it for seven days. This creates a naturally pink gin which they put in a fully enamelled bottle designed by Scottish Artist Nichol Wheatley. At 40% they recommend serving with a good quality lemonade, lots of ice, fresh raspberries and a sprig of mint. Perfect for warm summer days.

Kinrara's Artist Edition gins really make them stand out. They commissioned young Scottish artist Kat Baxter, to design bottles that depicted Highland animals, whilst showcasing the botanicals within the gin. They produce 2000 bottles of each, making the bottles true collectors items. They were recently finalists in the Scotland Food & Drink Excellence Awards in the Artisan Category for these Artist Edition Gins.

‘Ginny’ was the first in the series, a Highland Cow which proved so popular that she is now sold out. Following this ‘Struan’ was released: a Red Stag. He is depicted using juniper, orange, lemon, coriander and angelica, along with having patches of Kinrara tweed on his nose and ear. At 43%, they recommend serving Struan with Fever Tree Indian Tonic with a twist of grapefruit peel.

To find out more visit the website, follow them on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter.

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The Garden Shed Drinks Company

Established in 2017 with the aim of being both ethical and environmentally friendly, Glasgow-based The Garden Shed Drinks Company have been making waves with their signature and côte-rôtie gins.

As eluded to in the name, these craft distillers have humble origins, beginning when two couples started trying their hand at distilling gins for the love of it and testing recipes with ingredients found in the garden. The brainchild of Ryan and Maxine Grant and their friends, Ruaridh and Kirstin Jackson, the couples have created a delicious gin that takes inspiration from garden botanicals.  

Image credited to The Gin Cooperative.

The signature Garden Shed Gin is a classic London Dry style, which uses a blend of 13 botanicals including homegrown blackberries, dandelion root and lavender. In a delightful surprise for the group, after entering the gin into the 2018 World Spirits Competition in San Francisco just three months after the gin hit shelves, they were awarded a silver medal.

As well as the award-winning signature Garden Shed Gin, they also have a limited-edition Côte-Rôtie Aged Gin. This unique spirit undergoes a process involving leaving the gin to mature in côte-rôtie wine barrels, giving the gin a pink colour and a faint taste of red wine - even whisky drinkers have noted a comparable taste. Proving a perfect match with cocktails – particularly a negroni – the aged gin is thought to be a first for using this style of wine and barrel.

Aiming to give back to environmental charities, The Garden Shed Drinks Company supports the Bumblebee Conservation Trust and Trees4Scotland. They vow to plant a tree with every six bottles of the Côte-Rôtie Aged Gin or Garden Shed Gin that are sold through their donations to Trees4Scotland.

Image credited to The Gin Cooperative.

Whilst the business is just starting to gain popularity in Scotland, rugby fans may already be familiar with Ryan and Ruaridh: Ryan is a retired Glasgow Warriors star who also played with the British Lions, whilst Ruaridh continues to play with the Glasgow Warriors. The team have also set their sights further afield, now stocking their products in 12 other countries including Europe and Asia. 

With all the branding, distilling and recipe testing carried out between the two couples, they are proud to be independent craft gin distillers with environmentally friendly values at its heart. In a testament to the quality, they were nominated for Scottish Gin of the Year and Excellence in Branding at last year’s Scottish Gin Awards.

To find out more visit www.thegardensheddrinksco.com or follow them on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.

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Isle of Skye Distillers

Isle of Skye Distillers’ story began in 2016, when brothers Alistair and Thomas Wilson combined their experience in the hospitality and construction industries and completed their vision: to build the first gin distillery on the Isle of Skye.

At Isle of Skye Distillers, provenance is everything. The distillery is proud to use locally foraged juniper berries and clear spring water from the Storr Lochs to create their small-batch spirits: Misty Isle Gin, and Tommy’s Gin, both infused with a true taste of Skye. Every part of the production process is carried out at the distillery in Portree, right down to hand-numbering and signing each bottle.

Alongside these locally grown juniper berries, Misty Isle Gin is distilled with a precise balance of botanicals, including coriander, grains of paradise, orris root, liquorice root, black cubebs, angelica root, lemon peel, lemon verbena, cassia bark, and another secret ingredient, which can only be found at high altitude on the Isle of Skye. Still crafted according to the original recipe first developed by Thomas and Alistair during the distillery’s creation, Misty Isle Gin is juniper-heavy with earthy undertones, a hint of spice, and best enjoyed with a Scottish tonic water and a twist of orange peel.

Distilled alongside Misty Isle Gin is Tommy’s Gin, which was created in memory of Alistair and Thomas’ late father, Tommy Wilson, who served in the Suez invasion. ‘Tommy’ is also a generic name and term of endearment for a soldier. For every bottle of Tommy’s Gin sold, a donation is made to local military charities.

Crafted with botanicals including poppy seed, coriander, liquorice root, blaeberry and sweet orange, Tommy’s Gin is best served with fresh Scottish blaeberries and garnished with a twist of lemon peel.

Pick up a bottle of Misty Isle Gin (RRP £34) or Tommy’s Gin (RRP £39.95) from Isle of Skye Distillers’ shop in Portree, from an independent spirits retailer, or order a bottle online. 

For more information, a full list of stockists and to browse the distillery’s online shop, please visit www.isleofskyedistillers.com

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Tyree Gin

The Isle of Tiree is the farthest West of the Inner Hebrides of Scotland. This fertile and remote island, famed for sunshine and stunning scenery, is surrounded by the vast Atlantic Ocean.
Tyree Gin truly reflects the landscape in which it is distilled. Kelp harvested from the icy waters provides sweetness as well as coastal salty flavours and floral, grassy and vanilla notes are achieved using a range of botanicals from the machair ground inland from the shore.
Combined with juniper, water-mint and angelica, this is a fresh, pure island spirit.

Tyree Gin is produced by Tiree Whisky Company Ltd, which was established by locals Alain Campbell and Ian Smith with the aim of reviving the spirit industry on an island with a rich heritage in the tradition.
 
In the eighteenth century, Tiree was home to around fifty distillers with each farm on the island operating at least one still producing whisky.

This began to decline as tighter regulations from both the estate and the government were introduced. Although a large number of islanders were still making whisky illegally, this industry ceased completely in the nineteenth century.

Eighteen months of contract distilling in London by Thames Distillers helped fund the renovation of an industrial shed in West Hynish in the southwest of the island and, when production began in February 2019, the island was once again home to an operational distillery - the first in 217 years.

Visit the website, Facebook page, Twitter or Instagram to find out more. 

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Red Door Gin

Red Door have been creating spirits in the Scottish Highlands for over 120 years, with meticulous attention to detail and quality. Now the red sliding door to their old malt barn opens up a new chapter in a long and proud history.

Their idea was simple: to capture the spirit of Scotland’s majestic mountains, forests and windswept coastline in a deliciously distinctive, small-batch Highland Gin that works beautifully in a gin and tonic or silky-smooth martini.

Open the Red Door to discover a world of flavour, inspired by the elemental beauty of Scotland’s mountains, forests and coastline.

Handcrafted in a copper pot still, Peggy, their small-batch Highland gin has a heart of finest juniper, infused with locally-influenced botanicals that reveal defining citrus notes of bitter orange, aromatic sea buckthorn, pearls of heather and rowanberries.

Complex and dramatic, yet perfectly balanced, Red Door is a deliciously distinctive, bittersweet London Dry with the lingering palate that works beautifully in a G&T or silky-smooth martini.
Working to an exacting recipe, they source the finest botanicals to create Red Door’s exquisitely distinctive flavour, inspired by Scotland’s mountains, forests and coastal fringes.

Open, serve and share good times.

Find out more at www.reddoorgin.com or on Facebook. 
 

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Whitetail Gin

Launched in 2017, Whitetail Gin is Mull’s first gin and has a fantastic story centred on the island’s most famous resident the White-tailed Eagle.

Synonymous with Mull, these most majestic of creatures are the inspiration behind the family-owned brand. Like its namesake, which is Europe’s largest bird of prey, Whitetail packs a punch at 47% abv, but with this strength lies the most smooth of finishes – a truly unique gin with a fabulous story to tell.

The family, spearheaded by son Jamie has also just completed works on Mull’s first new distillery in over 220 years which also lays claim to being only the second distillery in existence on the Island. The completion of the distillery has enabled the family-owned brand to move production home, which was a burning ambition for all involved since day one.

As well as their new distillery there is a wonderful shop and café, which sits next door to the distillery – this is a must if visiting the island and must be one of Mull’s most hidden gems due to being in a relatively remote but simply beautiful location at Tiroran on the south-west side of the island. To top off this wonderful location, a pair of white-tailed Eagle named Fingal and Iona nest in the forest next door.

Although relatively new, Whitetail has seen some high profile awards such as a Silver at the World Gin Awards, Silver at the International Spirits Challenge 2019 – which had over 1,500 entrants and the gin retails at some of the UK’s finest and most well-known stores such as House of Bruar, Selfridges and over 30 CO OP stores in Scotland.

Whitetail is priced at £38.00 per bottle (70cl) and is available to purchase directly from www.whitetailgin.com or alternatively if you are on the island a visit to their café, shop and distillery is an absolute must!

Follow them on Facebook to find out more. 

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The Gin Bothy

Nestled in the Angus Glens of Scotland, Gin Bothy creates small batch gins using foraged botanicals and fruit. Founded by the "Accidental Gin Maker", Kim Cameron, Gin Bothy is an eco-aware, award winning distillery which takes its inspiration from the surrounding countryside. Gin Bothy is all about reconnecting with the past. The principle of respect – for mountain, river and farm – is ingrained in their work and shines through in the products they make.

Producing gins the old-fashioned way, they create small batches by hand, and infuse their gins with local fruits based on the Scottish seasonal calendar including raspberry, rhubarb, strawberry, blueberry, chilli and sloe.

Their Original Gin conjures up images of a special and distinctive way of life. It is infused with the finest botanicals from the great Scottish outdoors, including Scots pine needles, heather, milk thistle, hawthorn root and rosemary – much of them gathered locally.

A variation of their Original Gin, Stirrup Cup is infused with fresh Scottish apples, local honey, ginger and our classic hedgerow flower, gorse. Great neat in a hipflask or over ice, or served with sparkling apple juice or sparkling water with a hint of elderflower – and sliced red apple for garnish. Named after the cup of the same name, it would traditionally be used for a parting drink while on horseback, one for the road.

Gin Bothy have also recently opened The Bothy Experience in the picturesque village of Glamis, which offers an insight in the world of Bothy, its traditions and history, and hosts tastings and events for visitors from all over the world.

Visit the website, Facebook, Instagram or Twitter to find out more. 

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Verdant Dry Gin

As winners of the Scottish Gin of the Year Award, their full flavour, no fuss approach, has gained Verdant Dry Gin widespread acclaim. Smooth and sophisticated, it has gained wide appeal thanks to its classic taste and style. Distilled in small batches from the highest quality ingredients in a 500 litre pot still named “Little Eddie” after the old jute mill where it is made, Verdant Gin is the first and only gin distilled in Dundee.

Juniper-led, the spirit displays fresh notes of citrus from Spain, coriander from India balanced with warm, earthy undertones of spice. This carefully curated blend of botanicals was inspired by Dundee’s rich trading history and reflects the routes once sailed by traders to and from the city.

At just over a year old, the spirit is already packing a punch in the world of Scottish gins, beating off some stiff competition. Seeking to produce a modern yet classic gin, they have successfully created a rounded spirit with that can be enjoyed on its own, with tonic or in a cocktail.

They recommend Verdant Gin be served neat (on the rocks or not) or as a G&T with your favourite tonic. Bottled at 43% ABV, it also has plenty of character to hold its own when used in the skilled mixologist’s hands, adding depth and vitality to new and traditional cocktail creations.

To find out more about Verdant Gin and where you can buy a bottle, visit www.verdantspirits.co.uk