Brothers Callum and Peter Sim were on a camper van holiday in 2017 that saw them visiting a number of Scottish Distilleries on the West Coast including a visit to Bruichladdich Distillery, home to The Botanist. That night they found themselves sitting under the stars talking about what botanicals would make up their ideal Scottish Gin. As young boys the brothers had been fascinated with Norse mythology, especially the mighty Odin and the story of his two ravens, sitting watchfully over his throne. A plan was literally hatched the next morning.
The brothers spent over a year developing their ideal flavour combination, refining and developing the recipe, testing small batches. With the assistance of an old friend at a nearby distillery in Royal Deeside, they distilled their first batch and Hrafn (pronoucned Ra-vn) meaning Raven in Old Norse took flight.
A premium dry gin, distilled in Royal Deeside in Aberdeenshire. Made with a range of traditional botanicals and delicate mandarin. Fresh on the nose, light and smooth on the palate, with a distinctive warm and slightly spicy finish.
Key Botanical(s): Juniper, Mandarin
Gin Style: London Dry
Strength: 45% vol
Goes great with: A slice of lemon, tonic and ice.
Bottled at 49% ABV, Hrafn Gin Valhalla was created as a gin that can be enjoyed neat over ice or in a gin and tonic. A classic gin flavour profile of herbaceous, piney juniper but with the subtle use of mandarin, which creates a complex but well balanced gin that has a creamy mouthfeel. The use of mandarin as a key botanical along with other classic gin botanicals delivers a gin that’s juniper forward before crackling into a lovely, warming spice that transitions into fresh, intense mandarin that lingers on the finish with subtle undertones of warm spice.
Key Botanical(s): Juniper, Mandarin
Gin Style: London Dry
Strength: 49% vol
Goes great with: Neat over ice with a twist of lemon peel or tonic and ice.
This limited winter edition pulls Hrafn back to its Viking roots. A premium dry gin distilled with delicate mandarin. The gin is then infused with Royal Green Horanji Frankincense and Premium Omani Myrrh to give a deep well-balanced mystical fragrance and etherial taste.
Key Botanical(s): Juniper, ’Royal Green Hojari' Frankincense, Omani Myrrh, Mandarin
Gin Style: Distilled
Strength: 43% vol
Goes great with: Prosecco.
Hrafn Gin Valkyrie from Hrafn Gin is a classic London Dry Scottish Gin distilled with a number of traditional gin botanicals including juniper, corriander seeds, cassia bark, cubeb pepper angelica root and the hero botnical, fresh and exotic jara fruit peel. On the nose bright piney juniper, fresh and zingy citrus. On the palate piney juniper blends into bursts of delicious spiced citrus. On the medium to long finish, soft citrus notes tranisition through warming aromatic spices to a lingering note of cinnamon.
The Gin Cooperative Awards for Hrafn Gin Valkyrie include:
• Silver - Consumer Judges Award 2022
Key Botanical(s): Cubeb Pepper, Jara Peel, Juniper
Gin Style: London Dry Scottish Gin
Strength: 43% ABV
Goes great with: A twist of lemon or lime, light tonic and ice.
Cranachan, described as the Scottish King of Desserts, has been deconstructed and distilled into a bottle from the team at Raven Spirits. Developed from scratch, rather than flavouring the signature Hrafn Gin, this pink gin uses local Aberdeenshire raspberries, honey, oats and new make malt spirit, resulting in a refreshing, aromatic, contemporary style gin.
Key Botanical(s): Raspberries, Oats, New Make Malt Spirit
Gin Style: Distilled
Strength: 40% vol
Goes great with: Fresh raspberries, tonic and ice.
Hrafn Gin Founder’s Reserve is a special limited edition release. It brings together a thoughtful mix of soft enticing mandarin to reveal an elegant, creamy and memorable finish. Limited edition now sold out.
Key Botanical(s): Juniper, Mandarin
Gin Style: London Dry
Strength: 47% vol
Goes great with: A slice of lemon, tonic and ice.
You can learn more about the maker by clicking the links below.
