Scottish Gin- 5 of the Finest

Let us celebrate some of the wonderful traditional Scottish drinks on offer. Scotland is famed for its whisky and has so many delicious traditional food and drinks. but what about the gin? Here, Scottish gin and those who capture of beauty of the land, sky, and sea of Scotland using quality, local botanicals to give us the perfect G&T!

Hills & Harbour:

Made by the folk at Crafty Distillery, this gin is multi award winning. Using their ‘grain to glass’ base spirit of locally sourced Dumfries and Galloway ingredients, it features flavours of Noble Fir needles & Bladderwrack Seaweed as part of its 11 botanicals. This is a well balanced gin, with a smooth and clean taste- I absolutely love it!

If you can, why not visit the distillery and take a tour? You can have lunch (and of course a G&T) in their dog friendly dining area, enjoying the stunning backdrop of H.Q. whilst enjoying the food and drink. We love this area of Scotland- there are many dog friendly places to stay and things to do.

Hills & Harbour can be bought by mail order (with free delivery) and is now stocked by John Lewis- so can also be collected for free at any Waitrose store. This is a MUST buy for any gin connoisseur. Prepare to be planing your next order as soon as it runs out- you have been warned!

Pickerings:

Edinburgh based Pickerings create their magic at a cool old veterinary school building in the city centre. Gin tours are available and include (of course) one of their delicious G&T’s. Winners of Scottish Gin award 2017 and Double Gold World Spirits Award 2018.

Based on a secret family gin recipe, it uses citrus fruits and fragrant spices. A smooth and easy to drink gin- extremely moorish! Look for the Christmas gin baubles which make an excellent gift for any gin lover. I love the Pickering’s gin served (as suggested by the producers) with a slice of pink grapefruit- so crisp and fresh.

Enjoy Pickerings, Original 1947, Navy Strenth or with Scottish Botanicals. Order Pickerings gin online or check stockists as I recently found it stocked in my local Cambridgeshire wine shop! A great buy and excellent value.

Kirsty’s Gin- Arbikie

This is a new purchase for us, picked up on a recent holiday. Distilled from scratch by Angus based Arbikie, this is another artisan producer who make their own base spirit. Kirsty’s Gin (named after their Master Distiller) has a fresh and fruity flavour due to the kelp, carline thistle & blaeberry in the botanical combination.

Serving suggest blueberries and lemon- a lovely crisp drink. Order this gin online, or check stockists on their website and stock up!

Daffy’s:

Created from a French grain spirit, Daffy’s Gin is not only good looking (nice bottle isn’t it?) but fresh and well balanced. This gin also has plenty of awards behind it and is clearly recognised as a quality product. The distillery is based in the Highlands, where you can visit and even make your own gin at their Gin School. Or perhaps visit the Gin Den in Edinburgh?

Daffy’s Gin is stocked by Waitrose so pop some in the shopping basket, or order online

Kinrara:

This hand-crafted and rather delicious gin by Kinrara Distillery is inspired by the botanicals local to Bruar, including the flavours of spruce and rowan berry. Distilled in the Cairnogorms, this is lovely clean, fresh gin. One of Scotland’s new comers in the micro-distillery world and making their mark with some exciting flavours to try so do check out the website and see which one you fancy. I was bought ‘Spirit of the Falls’ as a gift and love it.

Scottish Gin:

So many gins, so little time! There are many wonderful gift ideas for gin and tonic lovers here. Enjoy and cheers.

If you choose to visit Crafty Distillery why not see our recommendations for Dumfries and Galloway

See our other food and drink gift recommendations here.