Looks like the 5pm Gin Map of Scotland will need updating. Again.
It is said that death and taxes are the only two things in life which we can be certain of.
We would like to add a third: the regular launch of a new Scottish gin.
Wild Island Botanic Gin
Say hello to Wild Island Botanic Gin. The botanicals used to flavour the spirit have been hand-foraged on the remote Inner Hebridean island of Colonsay (pop. 120).
It is made by Colonsay Beverages, producers of Colonsay Beers – Pig’s Paradise, IPA and 80 Shilling.
What’s special about it?
Well, it is distilled five times using 100% British wheat and infused with six Hebridean botanicals. These are lemon balm, wild water mint, meadowsweet, sea buckthorn, heather flowers and bog myrtle.
These give the gin a ‘fresh, crisp and complex character’.
A further ten distinct botanicals – Mediterranean lemon peel, orange peel, juniper, coriander, angelica, orris root, liquorice, nutmeg, cassia and cinnamon bark – add depth to the base spirit.
‘Wild Island Gin’s characters make it a fantastic spring or summer tipple,’ commented director, Keith Bonnington. ‘We want to make sure we are part of the gin drinker’s repertoire on the laid back warmer weather occasions.
‘The spirit has been tailored around one of our core Hebridean botanicals – lemon balm, which is part of the mint family, but carries a beautiful refreshing citrus aroma. We went a bit heavier than most gins on the dried lemon peel and steeped the botanicals for an unusually long time to release the essential oils in the zest. The result is even better than we had hoped.’
One for the 5pm Gin Map of Scotland
Wild Island Botanic Gin is proudly made in collaboration with Langley Distillery, a traditional copper-still family owned distillery in the West Midlands.
Making use of their smallest single copper still, the distillate is infused with botanicals from the Isle of Colonsay.
It is then transported back to Scotland to be compounded (or ‘cut’) to bottling strength of 43.7% alcohol by volume with pure Scottish water. It is bottled in Scotland.
Wild Island Botanic Gin is available to buy online at Drinkmonger.com and through all good independent wine and spirits merchants in Scotland.
It has a recommended retail price of £39 per 70cl bottle.
Now, if you’ll excuse us, we’re off to another look at our Gin Map of Scotland.