Highlands

Where is it from?
Torridon, Wester Ross

What's in it?
Juniper, Scots lovage, blaeberries and kelp seaweed

What's the damage?
£36.00 for 50cl

Is it Strong?
41.5% ABV

What makes it interesting?

According to mythology, the female stag can only conceive at the rising of Arcturus - one of the brightest stars in the night sky. Created by the owners of the Torridon Hotel, Arcturus is distilled with locally foraged botanicals from the surrounding land, sea and mountains.

Distilled under contract in Dunnet Bay, Caithness, Scotland.
 

Where is it from?
Elgin

What's in it?
Juniper, dandelion, mint, red clover, nettle and Rowan berries.

What's the damage?
£45.00 for 70cl

Is it Strong?
43% ABV

What makes it interesting?

Created by the founder of Elgin-based Moray Distillery who make the Berry Good range of liqueurs, Avva Scottish Gin is made using a combination of classic gin botanicals as well as botanicals foraged in Speyside and the Highlands. Meaning respected mother, it provides a link with the reputation that gin had as ‘Mother’s Ruin’ from the Hogarth era. Orange and lime peel hits first on the nose, and is quickly backed up by refreshing, vegetal herbs. A crackle of peppery juniper lasts throughout. They also produce a Navy Strength variation at 57.2%, plus a Cask Finished gin at 55%.

Gins in the Avva family:
Avva Gin
Avva Navy Strength Gin
Avva Cask Finished Gin
Berry Good Strawberry Gin
Berry Good Blackcurrant Gin
Berry Good Rhubarb Gin
Berry Good Raspberry Gin

Distilled in Elgin, Moray, Scotland.

Where is it from?
Wester Ross, Highlands

What's in it?
Juniper, gorse blossom, elderflower, wild bog myrtle, coriander, lavender, rosehip petals,

What's the damage?
£36.00 for 70cl

Is it Strong?
42.2% ABV

What makes it interesting?

Distilled in Badachro, in the north west Highlands of Scotland, Badachro Gin is a reflection of the pure air, water and land that defines the area. The team hand-picks botanicals from the surrounding hills, woodland, fields and shores of the Gairloch and combines them in their copper pot still ‘Delilah’.

Distilled in Wester Ross, Highlands, Scotland.

Where is it from?
Cairngorms, Speyside

What's in it?
Juniper, blaeberry, lady’s bedstraw, lemon-scented fern, wild thyme and rowan.

What's the damage?
£35 for 70cl

Is it Strong?
43% ABV

What makes it interesting?

Byron’s Gin has been crafted to celebrate Lord Byron’s love of the Scottish Highlands which inspired him to pen some of his most beautiful and memorable poetry. Byron's Gins are hand-crafted by Speyside Distillery, nestled in the foothills of the Cairngorm Mountains, with several botanicals taken from the distillery gardens and the immediate local vicinity. All ingredients are selected by the County Recorder for the Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland.

Gins in the Byron family:
Byron Bird Cherry
Byron Melancholy Thistle 

Distilled in Speyside, Highland region.

Where is it from?
Strath of Latheronwheel, Caithness

What's in it?
Juniper, coriander, orange peel, angelica root, liquorice, fresh lime peel, salmonberries and rhubarb.

What's the damage?
£38 for 70cl

Is it Strong?
40% ABV

What makes it interesting?

Ice & Fire Distillery was borne out of a love of the local area, with three families of Highland crofters wanting to try something different to sustain their crofting lifestyle. The name Ice & Fire comes from the Aurora Borealis which is seen regularly in Caithness. Caithness Highland Gin is a blend of citrus and fruit flavours: the local ingredients are rhubarb grown on the croft and salmonberries picked from the Strath of Latheronwheel. The hero local ingredient in Crofter’s Tears Gin is purple heather tips, picked from the crofters’ doorstep.

Gins in the Ice & Fire family:
Caithness Highland Gin
Crofter’s Tears Gin

Distilled in Caithness, Scotland.

Where is it from?
Speyside

What's in it?
Juniper, coriander, rowanberries, apple, heather, bog myrtle and dandelion.

What's the damage?
£30 for 70cl

Is it Strong?
41.8% ABV

What makes it interesting?

Caorunn is Gaelic for rowanberry. It includes 11 botanicals – as well as some traditional gin botanicals, there are five more unusual ones: rowanberries, apple, heather, bog myrtle and dandelion. The five-sided bottle represents the five Celtic botanicals and the perfect serve recommended is a thin wedge of red apple (to match the coul blush apple used to make the gin). Balmenach Distillery uses an unusual vapour infusion method where a pure grain neutral spirit is heated to vapour in a special still called a Copper Berry Chamber.

Distilled in Speyside, Scotland.

Where is it from?
North Ballachulish, Scottish Highlands

What's in it?
Juniper, coriander, cardamom and nutmeg

What's the damage?
£35.00 for 70cl

Is it Strong?
42% ABV

What makes it interesting?

Behind Devil’s Staircase Gin is Pixel Spirits: a craft distillery set in the scenic grounds of the Loch Leven Hotel in North Ballachulish. Founded by husband and wife team, Craig and Noru Innes, this distillery has been self-built from scratch, only relying on the help of friends and family. This is at the core of their values: hand-crafted, bespoke and personal. The gin has a spicy profile.

Gins in the Pixel Spirits family include:
Devil's Staircase Gin
Neptune's Beard Gin

Distilled in Ballachulish, Scottish Highlands. 

Where is it from?
Speyside

What's in it?
Juniper, green Douglas fir, orange rose hip, white bog myrtle, green sweet cicily, green and purple spear thistle, and spring water.

What's the damage?
£39.00 for 70cl

Is it Strong?
43% ABV

What makes it interesting?

Using only handpicked Scottish botanicals from around the beautiful Cairngorm National Park, this gin is blended with pure spring water from Speyside. The bottle proudly uses the Duncan tartan.

Distilled under contract in Aviemore.

Where is it from?
Elgin, Morayshire

What's in it?
Juniper, Scottish oats and local fruits

What's the damage?
£35 for 70cl

Is it Strong?
40% ABV

What makes it interesting?

Crafted in the heart of malt whisky country, the team behind El:gin wanted to move away from a 'ginny' gin, so used Scottish oats as a key botanical. This gives the gin a cranachan creaminess with a malty end note. Oats are added before distillation in a small copper pot still over a direct heat, which means the gin is gluten free. The team also produces a berry liqueur made with a combination of local strawberries, raspberries and blueberries, infused with fuchsia berries and blended with El-Gin.

Gins in the El-gin family:
El-gin
El-gin Moray Berry Gin 
El-gin Gingle Gin

Distilled in Elgin, Moray, Scotland.

Where is it from?
Dingwall, Ross-shire

What's in it?
Juniper, coriander, angelica root, cinnamon stick, orange and lemon peel, almond powder, orris root and hawthorn berries

What's the damage?
£37.00 for 70cl

Is it Strong?
40% ABV

What makes it interesting?

The brainchild of the local Flying Farmer, this limited edition gin launched in summer 2015 and is the first from the new Dingwall distillery now under construction. The distillery name is an amalgam of former distilleries in the area - Glenskiach and Ben Wyvis. As 'skiach' means 'hawthorn' in Gaelic, this is the key botanical. The team aims to have the strongest green credentials for a distillery in Scotland; they currently deliver their gin by electric car. The team has also produced four limited editions under the umbrella term 'The Edinburgh Collection'.

Gins in the Glenwyvis family:
Glenwyvis Original Highland Gin
Glenwyvis North Coast 500 Gin
Glenwyvis Limited Edition Rescue Gin
Glenwyvis Limited Edition Old Town Gin
Glenwyvis Limited Edition New Town Gin
Glenwyvis Limited Edition Stockbridge Gin
Glenwyvis Limited Edition Morningside Gin
Glenwyvis Ross County Gin

Distilled in Unst, Shetland, Scotland.

Where is it from?
Speyside

What's in it?
Juniper, mint, lavender and gooseberry.

What's the damage?
£32.99 for 70cl

Is it Strong?
43% ABV

What makes it interesting?

This small-batch, hand-crafted gin is from the Gordon Castle sporting estate on the River Spey, which is home to luxury holiday accommodation and function suites, plus a shop, cafe, walled garden and salmon fishing. It features botanicals grown in the estate's walled garden and has a fresh, floral palate. Gordon Castle's award-winning gin has been infused for a period of months with fruit from the Walled Garden on the Estate to create two smooth and fruity gin liqueurs: Raspberry and Plum.

Gins in the Gordon Castle family:
Gordon Castle Gin
Gordon Castle Raspberry Gin Liqueur
Gordon Castle Plum Gin Liqueur

Distilled under contract in London, England.

Where is it from?
Aviemore

What's in it?

What's the damage?
£35.00

Is it Strong?
43% ABV

What makes it interesting?

Inshriach Distillery is set in a 200-acre estate in Cairngorms National Park and came to fame in 2015 when it won Channel 4’s Shed of the Year. Formerly home of Crossbill Gin, the owners of the estate have gone solo with thier own Inshriach Gin which they plan to make in make in a disused railway station – once the highest and smallest station in the UK.

Gins in the Inshriach family:
Inshriach Gin
Inshriach Navy Strength Gin 

Distilled in Aviemore, Highlands, Scotland. 

Where is it from?
Dores, Inverness

What's in it?
Locally foraged juniper and other botanicals.

What's the damage?
£45.00 for 70cl

Is it Strong?
43.3% ABV

What makes it interesting?

The team behind Loch Ness Spirits is proud that their family has worked on the banks of Loch Ness for 500 years, so they are grounded in the traditions of the area. Everything in the gin is from the ancestral home of Loch Ness. They gather their premium 'black gold' juniper by hand from their own rare native crop, and combine this with the full-bodied water of the loch, giving a depth and richness to the gin. 

Distilled in Dores, Inverness, Scotland.

Where is it from?
Fortwilliam, Highland

What's in it?
Juniper, coriander, citrus

What's the damage?
£29.00 for 50cl

Is it Strong?
42% ABV

What makes it interesting?

The team behind Fortwilliam’s hip delicatessan, Deli Craft, have created a gin to reflect their local area with a fresh, earthy taste. Plans are progressing for them to open a bistro in the town with a brewery and distillery so that beer and gin can be made on site. The label features the Sleeping Lady mountain range known to locals.

Distilled under contract in Glenshee, Perthshire, Scotland. 

Where is it from?
Forres, Morayshire

What's in it?
Juniper, pearls of heather, coriander seed, sea buckthorn, rowan berries, lemon peel, bitter orange peel and angelica root.

What's the damage?
£30 for 70cl

Is it Strong?
45% ABV

What makes it interesting?

From the 120-year old Benromach Distillery, Red Door Gin is named after the red sliding door to the distillery’s old malt barn. The idea was simple: to capture the spirit of Scotland’s majestic mountains, forests and windswept coastline in Red Door Gin by using locally-influenced botanicals. 

Distilled in Forres, Morayshire.

Where is it from?
Dunnet Bay, Caithness

What's in it?
Juniper, rhodiola rosea, sea buckthorn, rowan berries.

What's the damage?
£34.00

Is it Strong?
41.5% ABV

What makes it interesting?

Rock Rose Gin will herald a new vintage each year as local botanicals are dependent on the climate and will subtly change year on year. Dunnet Bay Distillers named the gin after their first botanical forage along the Caithness cliffs, where they discovered a rose in the rocks. The team also produces a limited run of seasonal gins each year: Spring; Summer; Autumn; and Winter. Lassies' Toast Gin was inspired by the Moorland tea recipe that Robert Burns reputedly enjoyed - it is designed to mark the end of the Burns' Night supper with a traditional toast to the lassies.

Gins in the Rock Rose family:
Rock Rose Gin
Rock Rose Spring Edition Gin
Rock Rose Summer Edition Gin
Rock Rose Autumn Edition Gin
Rock Rose Winter Edition Gin
Rock Rose Artists' Edition Gin
Rock Rose Navy Strength Gin 
Rock Rose Pink Grapefruit Old Tom

Distilled in Dunnet Bay, Caithness, Scotland.

Where is it from?
Aviemore, Highlands

What's in it?
Juniper, rosehip, rowan berries

What's the damage?
£41.50 for 70cl

Is it Strong?
41.5% ABV

What makes it interesting?

A juniper-led dry gin, combining both foraged and locally sourced botanicals. The rosehips and rowan berries used in the gin have been gathered from the estate grounds throughout the year.

Distilled in Aviemore, Highlands.

Where is it from?
Dornoch, Sutherland

What's in it?
Juniper, angelica root, cardamom seeds, aniseed, orange peel, lime peel, lemon peel, coriander seeds, meadowsweet, pine needles, elderflower, black peppercorns and freeze-dried raspberry.

What's the damage?
£33.00 for 50cl

Is it Strong?
47.5% ABV

What makes it interesting?

Named after the distillers, Philip and Simon Thompson, this gin is the first limited edition release from Dornoch distillery. It features a selection of botanicals which have been chosen with help from the feedback they received from their Experimental Batches series. Ten per cent of the base spirit is made from Organic Plumage Archer Barley. 

Gins in the Dornoch Distillery family include:
Thompson Bros Highland Gin
Thompson Bros Organic Certified Gin

Distilled in Dornoch, Sutherland.