Gin of the Month

The featured gin this month being enjoyed by our Scottish Gin Club members is Pixel Spirits Devil's Staircase Spiced Gin from North Ballachulish in the north west Highlands.

The Distillery

Founded by husband and wife team, Craig and Noru Innes, the micro distillery has been self-built from scratch (with the help of various family and friends) in the shell of a 17^th century A-frame barn which is situated on the grounds of the Loch Leven Hotel in North Ballachulish.

This month, our gin club members are tasting the new Glaswegin Original Gin which was launched in December 2018. Since its launch just two months ago, it was been so popular that it is among the most popular gins in our bottleshop.

The Gin

Glaswegin is a contemporary gin that has been created to celebrate the City of Glasgow.

Despite Glasgow’s history and tradition for innovation, nobody had yet invented a truly Glaswegian gin and when the founder of Glaswegin found himself discussing the irony of Edinburgh Gin appearing in Glasgow bars one too many times, he knew it was time for Glasgow to have a truly overt Glasgow Gin.

The aim was to create a frank, no frills, yet distinctive gin, representative of its namesake.

Our chosen gin of the month for our gin club members this month is the Teasmith. Hailing from Aberdeenshire, Nick and Emma Smalley, the creators of Teasmith Original Gin, were inspired to form a gin that captured the essence of the land and stories that surrounded them. Therefore, they produced Teasmith – the first Scottish gin to use tea as a primary botanical.

Why tea?

The use of hand-pick Ceylon Tea was influenced by the regions largely unknown rich historical links to the tea-trade. James Taylor, a young man from Auchenblae in the North East of Scotland, was known as the 'Father of Ceylon Tea' as he planted the very first tea plantation in Sri Lanka over 150 years ago. It was Taylor who started the process that transformed the island into one of the finest tea-growing regions in the world.

It is only right that in December our gin club members are enjoying a gin that is described by the maker as 'Christmas in a glass'. McLean's Spiced Gin is a seasonal addition to the McLean's range.

The Gin

Generally only available from November to January (although it's exclusively available year round from us!), the Spiced Gin is an incredibly versatile gin that is as warming as it is refreshing making it ideal to enjoy sitting in front of the fire on a cold winters night.

Capturing the flavours of Christmas, classic botanicals are combined with allspice, spicy ginger, fresh pine, sweet cinnamon and clove to produce an exceptionally warmi

Our featured gin being enjoyed by our gin club members this month is Granite North Gin. Unsurprisingly given the name, Granite North hails from Aberdeenshire and was inspired by the rugged Highland peaks and ancient forests around the Cairngorm Mountains. 

Meet the Maker

Granite North Spirits was founded in 2016 by Sandy Matheson - a qualified engineer and a self-confessed perfectionist. Sandy is a keen hillwalker who has always been inspired by the dramatic landscape of the Cairngorms. It was while climbing Braeriach that he decided to combine his love of gin and the outdoors to create a gin that captures the spirit and freshness of the Scottish mountains. Over a year and 80 test distilla

Our featured gin this month for our Gin Club members is Kintyre Botanical Gin from Beinn An Tuirc Distillery.

At Craft56° we love Beinn An Tuirc and their ethos. Find out more about the distillery and the gin below. 

The Distillery

Based in a former piggery in the grounds of Torrisdale Castle Estate and built by brothers Niall and Kenny Macalister Hall, Beinn An Tuirc is an exceptionally socially responsible distillery.

Not only do they use sustainable botanicals but their copper still is powered by their own on-site hydro-electric scheme, they plant a tree for every case sold AND they use a portion of their profits to help local community projects!

The Gin

This month, our Gin Club members are enjoying Crafty Distillery's Hills & Harbour Gin. Find out more about the gin and where it's made below.

The Gin

Hills & Harbour Gin is made tasty by the forests & coastlines of Galloway – the perfect larder for the ingredients use by Crafty Distillery to produce their flagship spirit.

A London Dry style with 9 classic botanicals distilled with 2 locally foraged botanicals - Noble Fir from the Galloway Forest and Bladderwrack Seaweed foraged from the shores of the Solway Firth. 

Sweet and peppery juniper is balanced with hints of fore

Our featured gin this month is Illicit Gin from Illicit Spirits. Our gin club subscribers are currently the gin along with handmade spiced caramel gin infused chocolates made by the Sugarsnap.

Launched in April 2018, Illicit Gin is the first creation from Illicit Spirits, a true urban craft distillery based in Glasgow. Find out more about the Illicit Spirits story below.

The Distillery

Established in 2017 by Darran Edmond, an experienced distiller, the Illicit Spirits distillery is located in a railway arch in the Tradeston area of Glasgow. The distillery is home to a traditional direct-fired copper pot still which was made by a Portuguese coppersmith.

This month our Craft56° gin club members are enjoying the extremely refreshing Gorse Gin by Lundin Distilling - perfect for long summer evenings.

Gorse Gin is the combination of a love for the Fife coast and the science of botanical profiling. Together they create a soft, fruity gin with great length and a distinct character. This uniquely long gin is pushing the boundaries of the spirit.

Founded by Iain Brown, Lundin Distilling have collaborated with a renowned distiller (formerly of Sipsmith and currently with Arbikie) to produce Gorse Gin in their 500 litre still.

The gin is distilled and bottled in Fife to capture the flavour and beauty of a Scottish summer in every bot

This month our Gin Club members are enjoying an exclusive pre-launch of the limited edition Something Blue from McLean’s Gin.

McLean’s Gin

Launched in September 2017 and based in the southside of Glasgow, McLean's Gin is (probably) the smallest batch gin producer in Scotland. The gin is made using a process used since the 17th century in their 1.5m sq. 'gin lab' aka the living room cupboard!

McLean’s do everything by hand including bottling, sealing and labelling.

Something old, something new, something borrowed, Something Blue…