Established in 2019 by Jack Smith, The Cairngorm Gin Company is nestled in a valley beneath the wild and breathtaking Cairngorms National Park in the Highlands of Scotland. Jack was born and raised in the valley of the River Spey, in the heart of the Scottish Highlands, and his family has called the Cairngorms region of the Highlands home for decades. Jack and his family share a love of the great outdoors, along with the native flora and fauna that surrounds their home.
This admiration and passion for the outdoors and local landscape inspired Jack to establish a Scottish Gin distillery, business and brand around his love of the local area. Distilled with passion, The Cairngorm Gin Company launched their signature gin Cairngorm Gin in November 2019, which captures in the packaging and flavour a taste of the Cairngorms. The original distillery, which at the time was the smallest gin distillery in Scotland, was located in Jack’s family home in Carrbridge before moving production to the new Grantown-on-Spey distillery in 2022.
Cairngorm Gin is a handcrafted premium distilled gin, produced in small batches (up to 70 bottles per batch) in a traditional copper pot still named “Ginger”, named after distiller Jack’s late grandfather. Distilled using a combination of nine botanicals including juniper, cloudberries, elderflower and Caledonian pine, partnered with coriander seed, orris root, sweet orange peel, angelica and kaffir lime, which are all distilled along with fresh water collected by Jack from the River Spey. The gin is described as a wonderfully refreshing aromatic gin. This bold infusion of botanicals and Highland Mountain water results in a floral, fruity gin with subtle earthy tones that can be enjoyed neat over ice or with a premium tonic, a slice of green apple, and a raspberry and blackberry to enhance the cloudberry tones.
Key Botanical(s): Caledonian Pine, Juniper, Cloudberry
Gin Style: London Dry
Strength: 43% vol
Goes great with: A slice of green apple, one raspberry and one blackberry, tonic and ice.
In collaboration with The Cairngorm Reindeer Herd, this gin release commemorates the 70th Anniversary of the Cairngorm Reindeer Herd, Britain’s only free ranging herd of reindeer. Reindeer are a very special and permanent feature in the Scottish Highlands, having lived and grazed in the Cairngorm Mountains since 1952. Fittingly, the gin features Lichen, otherwise known as reindeer moss, which provides warming spice notes. £2 from the sale of each bottle goes towards the maintenance of the herd. This Special Edition combines the finest juniper, Caledonian pine, cloudberry, orris root, coriander seed, sweet orange peel, angelica root, reindeer moss, heather flower, rose hips, star anise, cloves and cassia bark to create this gently warming gin.
Key Botanical(s): Lichen, Caledonian Pine, Juniper, Cloudberry
Gin Style: London Dry
Strength: 41.5% vol
Goes great with: A slice of orange with tonic or ginger ale.
The Cairngorm Gin Company was originally the smallest gin distillery in Scotland, located in Jack’s family home in the highland town of Carrbridge. Jack moved premises at the end of 2022 to a new dedicated distillery space which now houses two stills, Ginger’, a bespoke 50 litre copper pot still named after Jack’s late Grandfather and a 100 litre iStill, continuing the ethos of small batch Scottish Gins produced with time, care and skill.
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