City of Aberdeen Distillery is the first legal distillery in Aberdeen for 80 years. Although the doors officially opened in December 2019, the idea for the City of Aberdeen Distillery goes back to 2013 when friends Alan Milne and Dan Barnett got chatting about beer and spirits. The friends, who both had a shared love of wine, beer, gin and spirits and met through the Aberdeen University Wine Society, felt it was about time Aberdeen had a distillery to call its own; a place that could produce gin and spirits that was influenced by the local area, could include Aberdeen’s heritage and history but with a sprinkling of fun, humour and of course Doric, the local dialect.
Based in a former store house in an arch under Aberdeen’s main railway line, Alan and Dan took the empty space and have fitted it out to accommodate both the distillery and gin school. With a number of mini-stills, visitors can enjoy a range of experiences including tours, tastings and can also turn their hand to making their own gin. One of the distillery’s mantras is “Made for Aberdeen, by Aberdeen” – with a number of Scottish Gin expressions available, along with a number of distillery exclusives, The City of Aberdeen Distillery is proud to be reviving Aberdeen’s lost distilling heritage.
Described as classic yet vibrant, uplifting and refreshing. The team distil using organic grain neutral spirit in small batches, typically every two weeks using Macedonian juniper, hand prepared fresh citrus, together with a number of other botanicals to achieve a fresh flavour and maximum refreshment. This gin is described by the distiller as, "gin as it's meant to be".
Key Botanical(s): Moroccan Coriander, Bitter Orange, White Grapefruit
Gin Style: London Dry
Strength: 42% vol
Goes great with: A slice of lemon, light tonic and ice.
Bramble Gin features Scottish brambles as a key botanical, delivering sweet jammy notes of rich berries offset by cassia, black pepper and cubeb berries. Rich, warming and fruity, the gin strikes a balance between big, fruit flavours whist retaining some of the classic elements of gin including warming, earthy notes on the palate and finish.
Key Botanical(s): Scottish Brambles, Black Pepper, Cassia, Cubeb Berries
Gin Style: Flavoured
Strength: 40% vol
Goes great with: Tonic and ice.
Refining this gin took lots of time, trial and error as each botanical has the ability to dominate. Eventually distiller Alan landed on a balanced blend of flavours. Initial uplifting thyme quickly transcends into a crisp and savoury experience of rosemary and gradually makes way for the richly satisfying Mediterranean conclusion of olive leaf, whilst retaining a pleasant juniper backbone.
Key Botanical(s): Thyme, Rosemary, Olive Leaf
Gin Style: London Dry
Strength: 40% vol
Goes great with: A sprig of fresh rosemary or thyme, tonic and ice.
Chamomile, rose and blue mallow flowers join with the traditional gin botanicals to give a luxuriously smooth and floral gin. A sensation of caramelised apple and soft subtle pepper which then blossoms into sweet fragrant rose.
Key Botanical(s): Chamomile, Rose, Blue Mallow Flowers
Gin Style: London Dry
Strength: 40% vol
Goes great with: Tonic and ice.
Lemon & Lime Gin is described as a glass of pure refreshment, deep flavours of lime and uplifting notes of almost sherbet-like lemon. On the nose, sweet spritely citrus. On the palate, sweet deep lime followed by a crisp refreshing lemon. On the finish, the lemon flavours transform into a lightly herbaceous and almost sherbet-like finish.
Key Botanical(s): Lemon, Lime
Gin Style: London Dry
Strength: 42% vol
Goes great with: A twist of lemon or lime, tonic and ice.
Continuing to bring experimentation and small batch creations to the city of Aberdeen, the distillery team has made a particularly seasonal expression using Valencian oranges and bright Moroccan coriander, providing a balanced summer sipper. On the nose, crisp juniper and sweet citrus. On the palate, lively uplifting sweet orange and full flavoured juniper. The flavour continues with citrus spice from the Moroccan coriander. To finish, the gin concludes with a light pepper note and a deep orange zest note.
Key Botanical(s): Valencian Orange, Coriander
Gin Style: London Dry
Strength: 42% vol
Goes great with: Tonic and ice.
The distillery and gin school are housed in a discreet railway arch just south of Aberdeen’s famous granite mile, Union Street. Located a short distance from the River Dee, the former railway arch once stored goods that arrived by boat at the local harbour before being transported to the arch for storage. The distillery space features a working distillery along with the City of Aberdeen Distillery Gin School, where visitors can enjoy a gin making experience. Tours, tastings and gin making classes also provide the chance to learn more about the history of distilling and gin making, samples from several demi-johns filled with the distillery’s current experimental series of gins, and the chance to discover more about the co-founders Alan and Dan’s journey into the world of distilling.
Tour: Yes
Gin School: Yes
Shop: Yes
Booking: Book a gin school experience or distillery tour here
You can learn more about the maker by clicking the links below.
