The Crossbill story started in 2012 on a small estate on the outskirts of Aviemore in the Scottish Highlands. A chance meeting at the local pub between two adventurous spirits began a journey for the brand and an idea that an excellent tasting Scottish Gin didn’t have to be complicated. A skilled distiller could tease out various flavours with just two locally foraged botanicals. Crossbill Gin was born and continued to grow before eventually relocating in 2017 to its current home in Glasgow’s famous Barras. The new distillery space, affectionately known as The Hatchery, provided a brand home for Crossbill Gin and additional space for a shop and a gin school where visitors can distil a unique Crossbill Gin.
Since relocating, the business has changed ownership. However, the ethos and process have remained the same, with the core Crossbill Scottish Gins using a limited number of hand-foraged fresh botanicals, carefully and ethically foraged in the Scottish Highlands before being prepared for distillation. The Crossbill team have pushed the brand forward by introducing several new seasonal and limited edition Scottish Gins that explore seasonal botanicals grown around Scotland, following the Crossbill process of slow maceration so delicate flavours from the botanical bouquet in each unique Scottish Gin can shine.
Crossbill 100% Scottish Dry Gin is the signature Scottish Gin from Crossbill Distilling. The idea was to create a Scottish Gin that showcased the diversity and flavours of only two Scottish botanicals, Scottish juniper and rosehips, foraged from the ancient Caledonian Forest in the Scottish Highlands. The two key botanicals are left to macerate in the still with the alcohol, which helps extract various flavours and aromas before distillation. The nose has big, bright, piney juniper, green forest notes, and some green herbaceous, vegetal notes balanced with citrus. On the palate, resinous fresh piney juniper blends into bright, sharp, pleasant pine citrus notes, building towards a medium finish of warming pine and a slight tart floral note.
Key Botanical(s): Scottish Juniper, Rosehip
Gin Style: London Dry
Strength: 43.8% ABV
Goes great with: A sprig of fresh rosemary, tonic and ice.
In the ancient juniper forests of Scotland, there are some rare plants which have been producing juniper for centuries; the grand dames of the highland forests. So on discovering a specimen that is over 200 years old, Crossbill decided to do something very special to honour this time aged plant. At 59.8%, it is bottled at still strength, holding onto the essential oils from the Scottish juniper. Every year, fresh juniper berries are collected and a limited number of bottles are produced.
Key Botanical(s): Scottish Juniper, Rosehip
Gin Style: London Dry
Strength: 59.8% ABV
Goes great with: A flamed orange twist, tonic and ice.
Crossbill Seasonal Spring Gin is a yearly seasonal release featuring a range of botanicals foraged in the Scottish spring season. Key botanicals featured in the 2023 edition, for example, included lemon balm, rhubarb and rosehips. The lemon balm was distilled within hours of being foraged to capture the freshest, cleanest flavours. The rhubarb was picked from a local grower in Midlothian, providing sweet and tart notes. The nose was fresh, bright and green with hints of lemon citrus and fresh rhubarb. The palate delivered similar to the nose, tangy lemon citrus and undertones of tangy, juicy rhubarb. The finish was slightly bitter and tart as the rhubarb shined through. Due to the seasonal variations in weather and climate, each Crossbill Seasonal Spring Gin annual release has subtle differences, meaning no two years are identical.
Key Botanical(s): Lemon Balm, Rhubarb, Rosehips
Gin Style: London Dry
Strength: ABV varies depending on year.
Goes great with: A basil leaf, tonic and ice.
Crossbill Seasonal Summer Gin is a yearly seasonal release featuring a range of botanicals foraged in the Scottish summer season. Key botanicals featured in the 2023 edition, for example, included rosehips, raspberries and brambles that were picked near Crail in the East Neuk of Fife. The gin featured bright, summer notes of zingy red fruit on the nose, with a slight floral note. The palate delivered a gin flavour profile that showcased the zingy, red fruit but is balanced with some juniper, citrus and spice. Due to the seasonal variations in weather and climate, each Crossbill Seasonal Summer Gin annual release has subtle differences, meaning no two years are identical.
Key Botanical(s): Rosehips, Raspberries, Brambles
Gin Style: London Dry
Strength: ABV varies depending on year.
Goes great with: A few raspberries, tonic and ice.
Crossbill 2023 Seasonal Autumn Gin features a selection of foraged botanicals that were carefully picked during the autumn of 2023. These botanicals were then carefully distilled to produce this unique and limited edition Scottish Gin. Key botanicals featured include Scottish juniper, rosehips, chanterelle mushrooms and brambles. The Scottish juniper provides a pine and aromatic spice with a hint of citrus layered with the chanterelles which add a green earthiness to the palate. The rosehips add a slight berry tartness with the brambles adding a layer of fresh red berry fruit that balances and rounds of the flavour profile.
Key Botanical(s): Brambles, Chanterelle Mushrooms, Rosehips
Gin Style: London Dry
Strength: ABV varies depending on year.
Goes great with: A sprig of thyme, tonic and ice.
Crossbill Seasonal Winter Gin is a yearly seasonal release featuring a range of botanicals foraged in the Scottish winter season. Key botanicals featured in the 2023 edition, for example, included sea buckthorn and dulse seaweed. The gin featured maritime notes on the nose and palate, with fresh, complex layers of savoury sea notes. The nose had notable notes of dry fruits and fresh, juicy berries. The palate featured a sweet note from the rosehips along with citrus. The finish delivers further maritime notes with dulse seaweed, some brine and a tangy, balanced finish. Due to the seasonal variations in weather and climate, each Crossbill Seasonal Winter Gin seasonal release has subtle differences, meaning no two years are identical.
Key Botanical(s): Rosehips, Dulse Seawood, Sea Buckthorn
Gin Style: London Dry
Strength: ABV varies depending on year.
Goes great with: An olive, tonic and ice.
A celebration of the natural habitat of the Scottish Crossbill's cousin, the North American Red Crossbill. Working in collaboration with a forager in New Hampshire, the team at Crossbill used freshly picked staghorn and infused it into Crossbill Gin to give a unique sumac citrus blast of the natural habitat of the American Red Crossbill. Described as exceptionally dry with a pleasant floral and tangy taste of citrus fruit. Best enjoyed neat over ice.
Key Botanical(s): Handpicked Scottish Juniper, Staghorn Sumac
Gin Style: Flavoured
Strength: 46% vol
Goes great with: Neat over ice or with Mediterranean tonic and ice.
Fresh pineapple caramelised and macerated with Scottish juniper, ginger and thyme, then distilled and aged in Pedro Ximénez sherry casks to deliver a well balanced gin that is magnificently rich and sumptuous. The result: a well balanced Winter tipple, great sipped on its own or with tonic, soda, lemonade or ginger ale.
Key Botanical(s): Handpicked Scottish Juniper, Pineapple
Gin Style: Flavoured, Cask Aged
Strength: 40% vol
Goes great with: A julienne of fresh ginger, soda and ice.
Crossbill 2023 Seasonal Summer Gin features a selection of foraged botanicals carefully picked during the summer of 2023. Strawberries from Barnsmuir Farm in Fife and freshly foraged marsh samphire from Wigtown Bay in Galloway are the two key botanicals in the summer 2023 edition. The tranquil coastal notes of the marsh samphire, which provides salty and savoury notes on the palate, are balanced with bright, fresh summer strawberries. Pulling the flavour profile together are notes of classic gin botanicals, including juniper and some citrus notes in the background, with the coastal and red berries notes leading the flavour journey.
Key Botanical(s): Juniper, Staghorn Sumac, Virgin Oak Cask
Gin Style: Cask Aged
Strength: 45.4% ABV
Goes great with: Ginger beer and ice.
Formerly based at a distillery in the Scottish Highlands, Crossbill Distilling moved to their current distillery, known as The Hatchery, in the heart of Glasgow’s Barrowlands in the Spring of 2017. The distillery, which is in the Barras Art and Design (BAaD) centre, features a traditional Alembic copper pot still, used for all the Crossbill Gin distillations. The distillery also offers distilling and blending experiences, where visitors can create their own Scottish Gins, enjoy tastings and take advantage of other exclusive offers and discounts.
Gin School: Yes
Shop: Yes
Booking: Learn more about Crossbill Gin experiences here
Learn more about Crossbill Distilling by visiting the links below.
