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…

This month our Gin Club subscribers are enjoying Pickering's Original 1947 Gin.

Perfect for the warmer spring evenings that have eventually arrived with us, this gin is exceptionally refreshing. 

Find out more about the gin, the distillery and the people behind the brand below.

The Gin

The 1947 Original is a spicy, sweet and intense gin with cardamom, coriander, clove and cinnamon leading to a crisp and refreshing finish – it’s a decadent trip back to the last days of the Raj.

Pickering’s Original 1947 Gin is based on a

Verdant Dry Gin

This month our Gin Club members are enjoying the award-winning Verdant Dry Gin from Verdant Spirits.

The Gin

Verdant Dry Gin is a modern yet classic gin with top notes of juniper and bright citrus, balanced with a complex mix of botanicals to produce a smooth, sophisticated spirit.  

In September 2017, just a few months after hitting the market, Verdant won Gin of the Year at the first ever Scottish Gin Awards.

The Botanicals

The carefully selected range of botanicals was inspired by Dundee’s rich

Sea Glass Gin

Inspired by the beauty of the natural coastline, February’s Gin of the Month, which was received by all our gin club members, is Deerness Distillery’s signature Sea Glass Gin. Deerness Distillery is a traditional artisan distillery founded by husband and wife Stuart and Adelle Brown and is situated near their family home on the east mainland of Orkney.

The Distillery

Since moving from Australia with their family, Stuart and Adelle Brown have turned their hobby into a reality with the production of their small batch spirits.

Deerness Distiller