The Pentland Still

Sandy Morrison’s love of gin began after a visit to an Edinburgh-based distillery in 2015 opened his eyes to the world of botanicals, flavours, and aromas. An avid hillwalker originally from Dalkeith in Midlothian, Sandy spent much of his spare time away from his busy career in oil and gas, hillwalking and exploring Scotland’s famous outdoors, including visits to the local hills in the Edinburgh and Midlothian area.

On one of his outdoor trips to the Pentland Hills, a picturesque 20-mile range of hills located southwest of Edinburgh, Sandy learned of the story of King’s Hill. Scottish King Robert the Bruce and Sir William’ The Crusader’ Sinclair of Roslin had a running wager between them as to who could catch the elusive white Pentland Stag. In the end, Sir William managed to track and capture the stag. In honour of his friendship with Robert the Bruce, Sir William named the hill where the stag was captured ‘King’s Hill’.

In 2016, Sandy began experimenting with a tiny 1.5 litre traditional Portuguese Alembic still named ‘Molly’ at home. He used some of the botanicals he had foraged while exploring the local hills and, over time, built a library of local botanicals. By 2017, Sandy had secured an industrial unit in Midlothian on the outskirts of Edinburgh with views over the Pentland Hills and with the help of his father, the industrial unit was converted to The Pentland Still Distillery and fitted with a 200 litre traditional Portuguese Alembic still named ‘Marion’ after Sandy’s grandmother.

In July 2018, Sandy launched his signature King’s Hill Gin, which featured a range of locally foraged and commercially sourced botanicals. In 2020, Sandy launched the new look of King’s Hill Gin bottle, a bespoke blue glass bottle featuring several premium brand elements. The diamond-cut shapes on the bottle reflect the connection to the story of King’s Hill and royalty, with the blue hues resembling the nearby Glencorse Reservoir from which the distillery’s water supply comes. The copper coin on the front of the bottle reflects the use of copper in the distillation process.

In July 2022 Sandy decided the time was right after getting married and starting a family to sell his distillery and brand so he could spend more time with his new family. The distillery and brand were purchased by the owners of the Tŷ Nant mineral water company and since the change of ownership the new owners have gone on to introduce a range of new Scottish Gins whilst remaining true to Sandy’s original vision for the brand and distillery.