Our end of month round-up captures some of the exciting news from the wonderful world of Scottish Gin. From new Scottish Gin expressions to distillery openings and more. If you’ve got a story you’d like us to consider for inclusion in next month’s Scottish Gin News Round-Up then email hello@thegincooperative.com.
New Scottish Gins
Hendrick’s Lunar Gin
Earlier this month Hendrick’s Gin unveiled its latest edition to their Cabinet of Curiosities series, designed to enhance and accentuate the existing elements of the Hendrick’s Original house style. Following the great success of Midsummer Solstice in early 2019, Lunar is another welcome addition to the Hendrick’s family. This particular expression was conceived beneath the celestial light of the moon in Girvan, Ayrshire and yields an alluring complexity and a delightful warmth. One moonlit evening, whilst tending to the botanicals in her beloved hothouse, Ms Gracie was inspired to create this refreshingly rich, warm, alluring gin; described as distinctly floral with a delicate spicy finish. Best served with a quality tonic, the signature cucumber slice and a crackling of black pepper. Available exclusively at Harvey Nichols for a limited time, followed by wider national distribution.
Learn more about Hendrick’s Gin here.
Arbikie Nàdar Gin
Arbikie celebrated launching the world’s first carbon neutral, climate positive gin this week made using a spirit distilled from peas. Head Distiller Kirsty Black has spent the last 5 years researching this limited edition, experimental batch Nàdar Gin as part of her PhD studentship between Abertay University and The James Hutton Institute. Fantastic to see Scottish Gin producers leading the way with innovation and sustainability.
Learn more about Nàdar Gin here.
McQueen Rhubarb & Ginger Gin
The team at McQueen Gin have been listening to their ardent fans and followers and this month they delivered on a much requested gin expression, a flavour combination that combines bursts of sweet fruit and hints of warmth – Rhubarb & Ginger Gin. This extremely limited edition is available exclusively from their Trossachs Distillery Shop in Callander and the McQueen Gin Emporium in Stirling.
Learn more about McQueen Gin here.
Scottish Gin News
Holyrood celebrate accessibility award
Holyrood Distillery celebrated being named the top accessible venue for the south of Scotland by Euan’s Guide, a non profit charity organisation who recognise and promote great accessible venues. The awards, now in their second year, are based on public nominations and reviews shared on Euan’s Guide.
Holyrood Distillery received high praise from voters, one commenting it was ‘the only perfect venue’ they have ever been to. Euan MacDonald, Co-Founder of Euan’s Guide said: “Holyrood Distillery has created an inclusive visitor experience by considering their disabled access from the outset. In doing so they have ensured that the whole attraction can be accessed by everyone regardless of their access requirements. What brings this venue to life however is its team of staff who provide outstanding customer service.”
Learn more about Holyrood Distillery here.
Isle of Bute Gin secure island premises
The team behind Isle of Bute Gin gave us a sneak peak of the “before” photos of their new Bute based distillery. When they first started production, they made a commitment to be actively involved within the Bute community and a huge part of that involved producing on the island. It has been a long journey to find the right premises but now they have the keys and are getting closer to opening the doors. We can wait to see the “after” photos!
Learn more about Isle of Bute Gin here.
Isle of Harris Apothecary Range
In early February, the Isle of Harris Distillery team revealed they had been exploring a range of island botanicals which abound their mountains, moors and machair; a continuation of their original research with agroecologists, ethnobotanists and herbalists to discover Harris’ many hidden treasures. Apothecary expert Amanda Saurin worked with the team from the start and created their Sugar Kelp Aromatic Water, which perfectly complements the distillery’s distinctive Harris Gin. Amanda even relocated from sunny Lewes in south England to settle in the stormy south Harris to further explore all this island has to offer.
First in the Apothecary series, Isle of Harris Distillers revealed their Wild Rose Tincture, which can be added to your Harris G&Ts or Martinis to create a subtle variation of your serve, as well as giving it a natural pink hue. This small-batch creation, limited to 394 bottles, is made from wild rose petals, picked in the village of Northton in South Harris. Other ingredients include elderberry, aged sloe berries, and bergamot, each naturally limited by seasonal availability and a sustainable hand-harvest.
Learn more about Isle of Harris Distillers here.
Planning for International Scottish Gin Day 2020
We’ve been busy planning for ISGD 2020 already, with it being just over 5 months away. We obviously want to build upon the success of 2019, which means reaching new international locations, engaging with more gin enthusiasts and having the whole world talking about Scottish Gin on International Scottish Gin Day! We have some exciting projects and collaborations to reveal in due course and we look forward to announcing more sponsors and supporters in the coming days and weeks. One of the priorities for 2020 is increased participation from on-trade in particular so we’re working hard to connect with the very best bars in the UK and all over the world so they can celebrate all things Scottish Gin on Saturday 8th August 2020. It’s completely free to host an event and the format is entirely open, allowing participants and venues to get involved according to their own strategy and budget. You can find out more about how to host your own unique ISGD event here. If you would like to know more, email us on hello@internationalscottishginday.com.
The Gin Cooperative on the road
We had a few photoshoots this month, creating more original, quality content for our members. We’ve also been busy updating The Gin Cooperative website behind the scenes so we look forward to revealing these new site improvements in the coming weeks. We also had a very insightful and productive trip to Edinburgh where we visited:
Edinburgh Gin
Although we had been to the Heads & Tales Bar and Distillery in 2019, we were delighted to finally visit Edinburgh Gin’s Biscuit Factory premises. It was a true urban production site with two distillers working full time producing Edinburgh Gin 5 days a week. It’s a relatively small space but the team have the logistics down to an art-form with bottling for the core gin expressions taking place off site.
The team have been operating their Hoga Still for 5 years now and while it needs on going TLC and maintenance, this traditional Portuguese copper pot still has served them very well. We were also delighted to hear that the new Old Town distillery has been approved by Edinburgh City Council, which will consist of a three story distillery and visitor centre at Edinburgh’s central arches, designed to welcome over 100,000 people every year.
Learn more about Edinburgh Gin here.
Crabbie’s Distillery
We visited Crabbie’s temporary micro distillery in Granton late last year, where the team shared their plans to open a new multi million pound malt distillery in Leith, where their Crabbie’s Gin range will also be produced. So we were delighted to gain early access to the new distillery this month, which is still under construction. The malting kit and whisky stills are in place, with some ongoing snagging and the impressive Arnold Holstein gin still proudly polished and ready to distil very soon. Conveniently, the site is broken into a large production area and a separate visitor attraction area. The team have prioritised production ahead of the obvious tourism opportunities and are close to producing at the new site. The vast visitor space, which will host a bar, shop and first floor arial tasting room gallery, looking out over the working distillery, is the next phase of the project but the team anticipate opening the doors to the public in early 2021.
Although the John Crabbie name has become largely associated with Crabbie’s green ginger wine and ginger beers, Mr John Crabbie, who established the business in 1801, was a pioneer in Scotch whisky. He was co-founder and first chairman of the North British grain distillery, which still operates in Edinburgh, and was one of the first large-scale whisky blenders, so it was felt that the new site in Leith was an ideal fit with the heritage of the Crabbie name and Leith’s historic status as the epicentre of the Scotch whisky industry.
Learn more about Crabbie’s Gin here.
The Gin Cooperative Features February 2020
Here’s a look back at the editorial features we published in February 2020.
Scottish Gin News Round-Up January 2020 – read it here.
G is for Gin (and Good), McQueen Gin – read it here.
My Scottish Gin Journey, Alexander’s Gin – read it here.
In The Mix, Andrew Ligertwood, Cushiedoos – read it here.
You can learn more about the many great Scottish Gins by visiting the links below.
