Colonsay Beverages, the owners of the Wild Island Botanic Gin brand, was established in 2007 and has been brewing craft beer on the island for over 12 years. With so many beautiful botanicals on the Isle of Colonsay, the team created a range of gins that captured the wild and beautiful island. In 2016, they released their first in a series of gins, Wild Island Botanic Gin, opting to go with the well respected Langley Distillery near Birmingham for distillation.
The long-term goal of Colonsay Beverages was always to bring gin distillation back to the Island of Colonsay. While production of the core expressions remains at Langley Distillery, in 2017, Colonsay Beverages completed the addition of a distillery at the brewery’s site. The first gin launched created on the island was the Distiller’s Cut Gin, making the first legal gin on the Isle of Colonsay for over 100 years. With a dedicated distillery and distiller on Colonsay, the business plans to release several island inspired gin expressions featuring the best in-season flora from the local landscape.
The fourth release in the Distiller's Cut series of gins, Wild Island Distiller's Cut Gin is the first release in the series that comes in a 70cl and features the packaging style from the core Wild Island gin expressions. Distilled on the Isle of Colonsay, the gin was created using a total of seventeen botanicals, seven of which are foraged from the island including redcurrants, lemon balm and sea buckthorn. On the nose, ripe fruit, juniper and citrus with a palate that’s floral and fruity with hints of fruit and spice on the finish.
Key Botanical(s): Redcurrants, Lemon Balm, Sea Buckthorn
Gin Style: London Dry
Strength: 43.5% vol
Goes great with: A slice of apple, tonic and ice.
Autumn Distiller’s Cut is the first in a series of seasonal gins distilled on the island of Colonsay. With each changing season brings a new larder of botanicals and to celebrate this, the Wild Island team developed a new gin, the first gin to be distilled on the Island of Colonsay for decades. Infusing hand foraged tangy red currents from the island, the result is a gin that’s sharp but warm thanks to nutmeg and liquorice. Available from the distillery shop on the island and some select retailers.
Key Botanical(s): Red Currents, Nutmeg, Coriander
Gin Style: London Dry
Strength: 43.7% vol
Goes great with: Frozen (or fresh) raspberries, tonic and ice.
Summer Distiller’s Cut is the second release in the exclusive seasonal special edition series distilled on the island of Colonsay by the team at Wild Island. Floral and ginger spice notes on the nose with an unmistakably honey-rich sweetness on the tongue. Long and lingering sweet mouth feel. Available from the distillery shop on the island and some select retailers.
Key Botanical(s): Ginger, Black Bee Honey
Gin Style: London Dry
Strength: 43.7% vol
Goes great with: Tonic and ice.
Distilled on Colonsay, this gin has been aged in an American hogshead, which previously held spirit from the neighbouring whisky island of Islay. Taste is described as sweet St Clements citrus with warm spice and a touch of red liquorice with a clean and fresh finish. Can be enjoyed neat over ice or goes well with orange tonic and a twist of orange peel. Limited availability and distribution.
Key Botanical(s): Juniper, Citrus
Gin Style: Cask Aged
Strength: 40% vol
Goes great with: A twist of orange, tonic and ice.
Just a minutes walk from the main ferry port at Scalasaig is the The Brew House, home to The Colonsay Beer Co. and the Wild Island Botanic Gin Distillery. Between the two they produce a range of beers, IPA’s and craft drinks with the distillery producing Distillers Cut Editions of Wild Island Botanic Gin and special edition gins. Each Wild Island Distiller’s Cut Gin expression, including the limited edition releases and the core Wild Island Distiller’s Cut Gin, are produced on the island using the 250 litre Genio smart still. A smaller copper pot still is used for recipe and product development before recipes are upscaled on the main spirit still. The brewery and distillery is open to visitors visiting the island where they can learn more about the brewery and distillery and pick up some unique gifts from the distillery shop.
Tour: No
Gin School: No
Cafe: No
Bar: No
Shop: Yes
Booking: No experiences available.
You can learn more about Wild Island Botanic Gin by visiting the links below.
