A gin lover’s guide to the best distilleries in Scotland

There really is no better time to book a weekend up north and explore the rapidly expanding gin scene
Murdo MacLeod
Alice Howarth19 February 2018

If you think of distillery tours in Scotland, you probably think of whisky, right?

Who can blame you? It’s the liquor Scotland's most famous for but it's beginning to get a run for its money.

In recent years, gin has undergone a huge revival all over the country with many craft distilleries popping up and international alcohol companies investing in the Scottish gin scene. As a country rich in botanics and well versed in making legendary spirits, it makes total sense.

Currently 70% of the gin consumed in the UK is actually made in Scotland and the spirit’s industry is worth around £1.2bn to the UK economy, with that figure set to soar to £1.5bn by 2020.

There really is no better time to book a weekend up north and explore the rapidly expanding craft scene. Here are five of the best Scottish gin distilleries you shouldn’t miss...

Isle of Harris

(Isle of Harris Gin )
Isle of Harris Gin

Flanked by the Highlands to the east and the wild, open Atlantic to the west, the Isle of Harris Distillery is one of the UK’s most remote spirit makers. Since The Isle of Harris Distillery, or ‘The Social Distillery’, opened in October 2015, it’s transformed Harris’s economy and firmly put the island of the map.

Glassed in a beautiful cloudy blue bottle, the gin, with flavours of juniper and gooseberry (it goes best with a generous wedge of grapefruit), has become a centerpiece for any owner of a trendy drinks cabinet in recent years.

The distillery is open year round and the tour demonstrates how exactly the five local distillers create the award-winning spirit. The good news is, you’ll enjoy plenty of tastings too.

Edinburgh Gin

(Edinburgh Gin )
Edinburgh Gin

The location of where this gin is made is all in the name - Scotland’s capital city. The company was started in 2010 by distillers hoping to place Edinburgh back on the gin-making map and the gin is distilled in two different locations.

One of the distilleries is in the famed area of Leith which used to be the city’s port. Today it’s full of quaint shops, restaurants and artist studios. The other is in the city’s West End, Rutland Place on the edge of the New Town. Visiting both will give you an excellent cross section of the city's history.

The company has a range of eclectic gins from elderflower to rhubarb and ginger. The tour will show you not just how they distill the spirit but how they blend the different flavours and you can also make your own to take home.

Caorunn

Murdo MacLeod

Caorunn gin is a craft gin that’s made in small batches of 1,000 litres at a time by just one man – Simon Buley. It's made at Balmenach Distillery, which is actually a working malt whisky distillery in the Speyside region of the Scottish Highlands but it’s now home to Caorunn too.

A unique gin, it’s made from six traditional and five Celtic botanicals (rowan berries, heather, coul blush apples, dandelion and bog myrtle), and during the tour you will see just how they blend together to make the unique flavour of the spirit. At the end of the tour and tasting you’ll be able to enjoy a Caorunn tonic which they serve with a large wedge of red apple. It will make you seriously consider replacing all lemons in your future pre-dinner beverage.

Pickering’s Gin

Pickering's Gin

Pickering’s Gin is distilled in Edinburgh’s Summerhall which once functioned as the University of Edinburgh’s Veterinary School. As the first exclusive gin distillery to be established in Edinburgh for over 150 years, Pickering’s has been a trailblazer for the spirit since they launched in 2014. Today they distill their gin in a former animal kennels.

Each bottle is made with nine different botanicals and on their tour, which is called a Gin Jolly, you’ll see just how their artisan spirit is produced. The Gin Jolly starts with a G&T and ends with a three-gin tasting so you’ll certainly familiarise yourself with the spirt whilst going round.

After the tour concludes - it takes around an hour and fifteen minutes - make sure to check out the rest of Summerhall, it’s actually home to 150 other small businesses. You’ll find jewellery makers, chocolatiers, yogis, a brewery and even a very good pub, called The Royal Dick, in the courtyard.

Rock Rose Gin

Rock Rose Gin

Rock Rose gin is distilled at the small Dunnet Bay Distillers in Caithness. The tour here is relaxed and personal - you can email before however if you stop by it's likely one of the incredibly friendly distillers will just take you around themselves.

Perhaps the most charming section of this tour is that you can visit the small botanics garden on site which grows a lot of the ingredients used in the gin. Once you’ve enjoyed several tasting (they also produce vodka), you’ll soon realise why the company has won quite so many awards.

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