Whether you’re a firm fan of tradition or like to be more daring, each of these Scottish gin distilleries offers a unique experience for your taste buds.
Badachro Distillery
Badachro Distillery is very much tucked away. Head north, west a bit, and then over the bridge and round the corner to the hamelt of Badachro. It’s stunningly beautiful, pretty remote, settled by a west coast sea-loch (Gairloch) and enjoys views towards the Torridon mountains.
The pristine water, pure air and wild, untouched landscape provide ideal ingredients for the five Badachro Gins, ranging from the original Badahro Gin, with it’s aromatic, complex flavour from wild myrtle, elderflower, gorse blossom, lavender and rosehip, to the best selling, bright and refreshing Coastal Gin, which marries together the wonders of fennel and wild thyme with suger kelp and pink peppercorn.
Creating, distilling and telling the story of the gins is a great passion for the company, and has completely taken over their lives since starting the business in 2017. It was going to be tiny, making a few bottles to sell to B&B guests and the local (and awesome) Badachro Inn.
It’s still quite a small business compared to most in the drinks industry, but their products are enjoyed across the Highlands, Scotland and the rest of the UK in ever-increasing quantities. Exports to over ten countries across the world helps spread the brand and uniqueness of our highland recipies far and wide. They even create and produce gins especially for the Bermudan duty-free and the National Trust of Scotand.
The 57 Storm Strength Gin has become quite a cult product, with a loyal following enjoying it’s stong flavour, which was created for cocktails and turbo-charged G&T’s. Ironically, it also makes a great low-alcohol G&T. Because of it’s high flavour to alcohol ratio, a lot of tonic can be added to it without loosing the delicious gin flavours.
Badachro Distillery fill a vat with Badachro Gin and soak a netfull of Highland raspberries in it for a few weeks, and then genty filter it. No syrup, no sugar, no artificial colouring or flavouring, just gin and raspberries. Their orangy Orains gin is made the same way and has been a massive hit, often being enjoyed with ice, tonic and a couple of slices of fresh orange in the summer, and with warm apple juice and a cinnamon stick in the winter.
Beyond the gin range, Badachro Distillery also make the stunnigly ‘Wild Yet Smooth’ Dancing Puffin vodka and Bad a h-Achlaise Single Malt Scotch Whisky Collection (peated and non-peated and finished in a selection of rum, port, madeira and Tuscan red wine casks).
Why not visit www.badachrodistillery.com to learn more.
Twitter: @Badachrospirits or @badachrogin
Instagram: badachrodisitillery
Facebook: badachrodistillery
==================================================
Tarbraxus Distillers
Hidden away on the border of South Lanarkshire in the foothills of the Pentland Hills is a small treasure of a distillery. Tarbraxus Distillers, the vision of Phil, Tabatha and Panza, the Chocolate Labrador, is the home of Pentland Hills Gin, and it’s quite some gin.
First coming to the market in 2018 the Original Gin made a real impact on the small batch, hand crafted, gin scene. Flavoursome and smooth at 40% abv it also brought with it the first sustainable, refillable bottle, hand etched and individually numbered this allows the bottles to travel backwards and forwards to customers throughout the UK (and also a small number of overseas customers).
This success led to the mighty 58% Navy Strength ‘Electra’ Pentland Hills Gin. Coming to the market in 2020, a three-star winner at the Best Taste Awards last year, it has proved to be a real hit with those who like high strength gin with its smooth alcohol presentation and slightly sweet, warming palette. Head Distiller Phil has also been busy developing two ‘seasonal’ gins.
The autumn/winter Firework Gin at 45% abv went off with a real bang. Slightly spiced with a warming touch on the tongue it was only produced in very small quantities at the end of last year. It may have only been a small production run but the gin was voted best Scottish Gin at this year’s Gin Guide awards. The gin will return to production once the necessary botanicals have regrown on the small-holding that is home to the distillery.
In the meantime, the spring/summer offering; the Party Gin was floated in time to celebrate the Platinum Jubilee and Phil’s 60th Birthday. Offered at 38% abv, the gin has a hint of sweetness from the wild strawberries and hand-picked brambles included in the recipe (and a little kick from the black peppercorns).
All the gins are included with the Pentland Hills Gin refill option and they are proving to be a real success with gin lovers around the country. For Phil, Tabatha and Panza, it’s quality that counts and the care that goes into making the gins really does show.
====================================================
Glasgow Distillery Makar Original Dry Gin
Makar Original Dry Gin
The Glasgow Distillery’s flagship gin, Makar is a bold and spicy traditional style of gin with juniper at its heart – try Makar Original Dry over ice, with tonic water and a fine slice of mild green chilli pepper.
£28
www.glasgowdistillery.com/item/10/Makar/Makar-Original-Dry-Gin.html
Makar Original Dry Gin
Named after the old Scots’ word for a poet or a bard, Makar Gin is a bold and confidently juniper-forward gin made for gin lovers, by gin lovers.
Makar Original Dry is distilled slowly and with care in The Glasgow Distillery’s copper pot still, Annie. And combines seven carefully selected supporting botanicals with juniper, which lies at the spirit's heart. These botanicals are reflected by the bespoke seven-sided Makar Gin bottle and are illustrated around the bottle's neck label.
As the first gin to come from Glasgow, Makar Gin is not afraid to lead the way and as a result, has won a number of international awards since its launch in 2014. Try Makar at the heart of a G&T garnished with a fine slice of mild green chilli pepper.
£28
www.glasgowdistillery.com/item/10/Makar/Makar-Original-Dry-Gin.html
===================================================
Eden Mill Distillery
Paul Miller established the Eden Mill distillery in 2002 on the banks of the Eden estuary in St Andrews, it was the first distillery to make spirits in the region in over 150 years. Today, Eden Mill has a wonderful Gin portfolio crafted from the finest botanicals, many foraged from in and around St Andrews and a unique selection of limited release Scotch Whiskies.
Moving forward, Eden Mill have an ambition to create Premium Gins and Scotch Whiskies with minimal environmental impact combining traditional distilling techniques with ground-breaking innovation. Eden Mill are building a stunning new distillery at the mouth of the river Eden, overlooking the iconic, historic town of St Andrews. The new distillery sits at the heart of the University of St Andrews Eden Campus, a unique site dedicated to zero carbon and sustainable businesses and research.
Discover more at www.edenmill.com
Golf Gin
The world-famous home of golf. The renowned home of Eden Mill. Quite simply, the home of legends. From bunker-building, links-grazing sheep to the roar of superstitious former champions, this is where golfing history has long been made and celebrated.
In recognition, we’ve crafted Golf Gin from selected botanicals growing across the windswept golf courses and coastal grasslands of Scotland. The seaweed base, pine and heather, deliver a beautiful floral balance.
Shop at www.edenmill.com
Wildcard Gin
The Official Spirit of British Tennis
Wildcard Gin is a limited-edition gin with a homage to British summer time tennis. Infused with locally sourced Scottish strawberries and raspberries, this is the taste of summer. Now with 20% price promotion, from £35 to £28 for a 70cl bottle.
Shop at www.edenmill.com
======================================================
House of Elrick gin
Nestled in the rich, rural tapestry within the lowlands of Aberdeenshire, the House of Elrick is the source of a delicious range of premium quality spirits.
House of Elrick’s signature gin is crisp and fragrant. The botanicals, hand-picked by their Master of Gin are a complement of juniper, coriander seeds, angelica root and citrus peel, built around a core of heather, pink peppercorns, sweet fennel and rose petals.
Refreshing and aromatic, House of Elrick Gin is a spirit made with the essence of Scotland, using local ingredients and the crisp waters of Loch Ness. It is a fresh and vibrant infusion. The versatility of the gin means that it can be enjoyed on the rocks, or as the foundation of your favourite gin-based cocktail.
Owner Stuart explains: “For the House of Elrick brand, quality over quantity is key. All of our spirits are distilled and bottled by hand in batches of 600 bottles per run, so we can maintain absolute control over every bottle that leaves the distillery.”
Members of the Elrick Estate note that a perfect serve for their signature gin would be served on the rocks or with a fine, quality tonic from a deep wine glass to retain the aromas.
When it comes to garnishing, they recommend you opt for aromatic orange zest. The orange will accent the fragrance and intensify the rose and peppercorns notes.
The lines of gin and rum are made at the Elrick estate, within the garden walls of a home veiled in mystery and tradition. Built at the height of the Scottish Enlightenment period in 1720, the house boasts a rich history.
Visit the House of Elrick website today and sign up to their newsletter, to make sure you are kept up to date.
www.houseofelrick.co.uk
www.facebook.com/houseofelrick
www.instagram.com/HouseofElrick
www.twitter.com/HouseofElrick
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article