Alexander's

A chance encounter on holiday was the spark that set Fred Stockton on his Scottish Gin journey from gin drinker to brand owner. Surrounded by crystal clear, aqua blue waters and white sand on a Caribbean beach, Fred tasted a fantastic orange-based spirit and briefly chatted with the maker. The quality and the balanced flavour struck a chord with Fred and set the wheels in motion. Even on the flight home, Fred started thinking about his Orcadian roots. He began to subliminally sketch a ‘double crossed X’, the Old Norse symbol for ‘where there’s a will, there’s a way’. The X symbol would eventually form part of the Alexander’s Gin logo and feature on the packaging.

Fred had already established his own Scottish microbrewery brand in 2017, crafting New England IPAs, Vienna lagers, imperial porters, and more with various breweries across the UK. This allowed Fred to experiment with diverse brewing techniques and styles, fostering his sense of creativity, innovation, and collaboration.

A chance meeting in Royal Deeside with Peter Dignan and Richard Pierce, the co-owners of Lost Loch Spirits, spurred Fred on to begin the development of his Alexander’s Gin. With a clear idea of how he wanted his Scottish Gin to taste, Pete and Richard helped Fred work through various iterations until they had the perfect flavour profile.

Fred eventually became responsible for loading the still, helping with the distillation, and bottling and sealing each bottle by hand. Ultimately, Fred would like to open a distillery in his home town of Stonehaven, but like his Alexander’s Gin, good things take time. To this day, Fred never found out the Caribbean distiller’s name, so he crowned him ‘Alexander’ and dedicated Alexander’s Gin to him.