Photo of
April 24, 2017
new Scottish gin
Kilmahew Gin: drink to the health of St Peter’s with a new Scottish gin. Pic: Alasdair Smith.

A new Scottish gin is to help restore one of the country’s lost architectural masterpieces.

One thousand bottles of small batch Kilmahew Gin will shortly be on sale to help fund the restoration of St Peter’s Seminary.

Called Scotland’s Modernist masterpiece, St Peter’s Seminary is one of only 42 post-war buildings in Scotland to be given Category A listed status.

The seminary opened at Kilmahew in 1966 to train budding priests and, for various reasons, it closed in 1980.

It had fallen into ruin before the Glasgow-based arts company NVA devised a scheme to restore the building and convert it into a centre for the arts.

You can help fund the work by mixing yourself a drink made with Kilmahew Gin.

Drink Scottish gin and helps the arts

The spirit is made by Glasgow Distillery Company and sold in bottles designed by Stand, a Glasgow brand and packaging agency.

The design of the bottle was inspired by the relationship between the architecture of St Peter’s and the surrounding environment.

All of the profits raised through sales of Kilmahew Gin will be donated to the restoration project.

The aim is to bring St Peter’s back to life as a distinctive visitor attraction and new cultural resource for Scotland.

Specifically, the gin will raise funds to support the restoration of the woodland and Victorian walled garden at St Peter’s.

New Scottish gin made in Glasgow

Glasgow Distillery is currently the only gin and single malt distillery in Glasgow. In fact, it is the first new single malt distillery in the city for over 100 years.

NVA worked with its Co-Founder Mike Hayward to develop an elegant handcrafted gin inspired by the historic landscape of Kilmahew.

Infused with orange peel, bramble leaf and rosehip, Kilmahew balances citrus and juniper for a zesty, full-flavoured spirit.

Bramble bushes and rambling roses still grow in Kilmahew woodland today. Orange trees, obviously, do less well in the west of Scotland climate.

This addition is a nod to John Fleming, the first gardener to oversee the estate’s Walled Garden when it was established in 1866.

He brought experimental techniques to Kilmahew producing oranges, nectarines and other soft fruits in the then revolutionary glasshouses.

Kilmahew Gin: symbol of the future

A spokesperson for NVA said:

‘We are excited to have the opportunity to collaborate with the Glasgow Distillery Company and Stand to produce a gin inspired by the landscape and history of Kilmahew. The area is named after St Mahew. He was a sixth century monk whose chapel is said to have existed close to St Peter’s since the earliest Christian times.

‘Given the links between monks and distilling, Kilmahew Gin is a nod to the people who have lived and worked in this remarkable place over the centuries, from St Mahew to John Fleming. It is also an optimistic symbol of its future, as through collective action (and gin drinking!) we begin to bring it back into productive use.’

1,000 bottles of Kilmahew Gin are now on pre-sale at nva.org.uk/shop. They are priced at £40.