Food

BEYOND BEAUTIFUL SCOTTISH GINS

Mixing up a beautiful craft cocktail made with gin, cucumber and pink hibiscus salt.

Photography & Creative Direction by Christiann Koepke. “Spring Loaded Cocktail | The Botanist Gin.” Recipe by Lucinda Sterling.

SCOTTISH GIN

Want to indulge in a most beautiful Scottish cocktail? Scotland may surprise you with its incredible artisanal gins!

It’s not all about Scotch whiskeys in Scotland’s distilleries -- although those are certainly magnificent. Gin is rising up as a prime jewel in this country’s spirits crown. While the proliferation of commercial “industrial” gins have given this beverage a bad reputation, the handcrafted gins of Scotland are changing minds.

Gin is not new to Scotland, however. It came to this country back in the 1700s, when Dutch Jenever, the fiery precursor to gin, was traded at the Port of Leith, in Edinburgh.

Juniper berries, gin’s primary flavoring ingredient, grow in abundance on Scottish juniper trees (Juniperus communis), an evergreen in the cypress family. The dark blue berries aren’t actually berries, but rather aromatic fleshy seeds. Nearly all of the juniper used in gin-making is picked straight from the wild.

Classic gin aromatics include orris root, cassia bark, coriander seed, anise, & angelica, to name a few.

There are over 50 gin producers across the country’s mainland and islands. They produce a range of styles, each with its own distinctive flavors and experiences, as each is made using locally sourced grains, fruits, and botanicals. We are featuring two of our favorite Scottish gins, The Botanist Islay Dry Gin and Isle of Harris Gin. Check them out below.

A bottle of The Botanist Gin surrounded by flowers and herb leaves.

THE BOTANIST ISLAY DRY GIN

The Botanist Islay Dry Gin is a complex elixir showcasing the botanical heritage of the Isle of Islay, the southernmost island of the Inner Hebrides of Scotland, known as "The Queen of the Hebrides."

Hands holding a bunch of red juniper berries, used for making gin, against a bed of green moss.

Beyond a base of local juniper berries, this gin is made from 22 hand-foraged local botanicals and 9 berries, along with a variety of barks, seeds, and peels.

Fresh herbs, a bottle of The Botanist Gin, and a cocktail measure sit on a table.

The Botanist Gin is handcrafted in small batches, using a 17-hour “slow simmer” technique in a unique low-pressure Lomond pot-still. The company’s former head distiller Jim McEwan nicknamed the still “ugly Betty,” but we think it’s quite beautiful.

A forager sniffs freshly harvested yellow blossom of Scotch gorse flower, used for making gin.

The result is a highly distinctive, complex, floral gin, with a satin smooth mouthfeel and an outstanding finish. It’s like a breath of botanical Islay in every glass.

A pitcher of gin cocktail sits on a table in front of a window with a glass of cucumber slices and a dish of pink hibiscus salt.

Photographer, food stylist, and creative director Christiann Koepke took The Botanist Gin to a whole new beautiful level with Lucinda Sterling’s “Spring Loaded Cocktail.”

A beautiful artisanal gin cocktail with pink peppercorns, hibiscus salt and cucumber slices sits in front of a bottle of The Botanist Gin.

Her duel love for photography and food comes through is her romantic images, as they play up the synesthesia that is particular this artisanal gin. Moody, with an inner light shining through, Koepke’s lush ingredients whetting our appetites -- we want to reach in and take a sip immediately.

A bottle of The Botanist Gin sits on a table with orange and cucumber slices and bunches of herbs to be used as cocktail garnishes.

Koepke’s culinary journey began when she was a little girl growing up around the family dining room table in a small town in Montana. Her photos are an extension of her table. Now based in Portland, Oregon, she styles her images using in-season locally grown ingredients, capturing them in fresh, inspiring ways.

A spring gin cocktail, crafted with cucumber, herbs, pink peppercorns, and pink hibiscus salt.

Sterling’s cocktail is a complex layering of The Botanist, with cucumber syrup, bitter lemon tonic, pink peppercorns, sprinkled with wild hibiscus salt. See complete recipe here. And check out her glorious images on Instagram.

A ribbed blue glass bottle of Isle of Harris Gin sits on a rock at the beach.

ISLE OF HARRIS GIN

Isle of Harris Gin is a fascinating gin made on the Isle of Harris. It is infused with sugar kelp (Saccharina latissima), a seaweed that grows in abundance around the British Isles. The kelp lends a complex flavor, reminiscent of the sea -- and not at all sweet, despite its name.

Isle of Harris Gin bottle perched on a rock in front of the ocean in Scotland, with mountains in the background.

This gin is made in small batches in a little copper still, known affectionately as “The Dottach,’' formulated with 9 specially chosen botanicals which capture the elemental nature of the remote island.

A bottle of The Isle of Harris Gin sits in the sand at a beach in Scotland.

Well-defined juniper note with pine needles, immediately followed by the fresh citrus notes of bitter orange, lime and grapefruit. Develops a complex floral note of rose and wallflowers with crushed green herbs, coriander and gooseberry all underpinned by mixed spice are what you’ll taste in Isle of Harris Gin. The sugar kelp, hand-harvested by a local diver from the deep underwater forests of the Outer Hebrides, adds to the complexity and richness with a dry maritime note.

The award-winning bottle captures the beauty and elemental nature of Harris, evoking the sands of Luskentyre, the woven twill of Harris Tweed and the ever-changing light of the Outer Hebrides.

Bottles of Isle of Harris Gin and Walter Gregory Tonic Water sit next to a pink grapefruit garnished cocktail on a beach in Scotland.

Try “The Harris Serve,” a cocktail that highlights the special character of this extraordinary gin. Pour a good measure of Isle of Harris into a wide rimmed glass and first sip it neat. Then add a few drops of Sugar Kelp Aromatic Water to taste. Add a large ice cube, a splash of Walter Gregor's Scottish Tonic with Quinine, and rim the glass with a wedge of Red or Pink grapefruit.

Isle of Harris Gin and a gin cocktail sit on a pier by the ocean in Scotland as a bird flies off into the cloudy sky.

Once you fall in love with Scottish gins, you might be tempted to visit during World Gin Day, when you can attend the Scottish Juniper Festival, held at Summerhall, Edinburgh.

A pitcher and glasses filled with beautiful gin cocktails, garnished with cucumber slices, pink peppercorns, pink hibiscus salt, and herbs, sit on a table in front of a window in Oregon.

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Orange, lemon and cucumber slices sit next to a bunch of fresh thyme and a plate of hibiscus salt as they wait to garnish gin cocktails.

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A wildflower meadow filled with yellow, purple and orange blossoms and grasses used for making gin in Scotland.

IMAGE CREDITS:

Photography & Creative Direction by Christiann Koepke. “Spring Loaded Cocktail | The Botanist Gin.” Recipe by Lucinda Sterling.
Image: Courtesy of The Botanist. The Botanist” Islay Dry Gin.
Image: Courtesy of The Botanist. Juniper Berries.
Image: Courtesy of The Botanist. Sweet Cicely Seeds.
Image: Courtesy of The Botanist. Foraging.
Photography & Creative Direction by Christiann Koepke. “Spring Loaded Cocktail | The Botanist Gin.” Recipe by Lucinda Sterling
Photography & Creative Direction by Christiann Koepke. “Spring Loaded Cocktail | The Botanist Gin.” Recipe by Lucinda Sterling
Photography & Creative Direction by Christiann Koepke. Making the “Spring Loaded Cocktail | The Botanist Gin.” Recipe by Lucinda Sterling.
Photography & Creative Direction by Christiann Koepke. “Spring Loaded Cocktail | The Botanist Gin.” Recipe by Lucinda Sterling.
Image: Courtesy of Harris Distillery. Isle of Harris Gin. Infused with Sugar Kelp.
Image: Courtesy of Harris Distillery. Isle of Harris Gin. Infused with Sugar Kelp.
Image: Courtesy of Harris Distillery. Isle of Harris Gin. Infused with Sugar Kelp.
Image: Courtesy of Harris Distillery. Isle of Harris Gin. Infused with Sugar Kelp.
Image: Courtesy of Harris Distillery. Isle of Harris Gin. Infused with Sugar Kelp.
Photography & Creative Direction by Christiann Koepke. “Spring Loaded Cocktail | The Botanist Gin.” Recipe by Lucinda Sterling.
Photography & Creative Direction by Christiann Koepke. Garnish for the “Spring Loaded Cocktail | The Botanist Gin.” Recipe by Lucinda Sterling.
Image: by BN App - Download now!
Image: Courtesy of The Botanist. Down at bedstraw level, by the main road. Yarrow in there too and a smell of hay & honey.