As you may have noticed, we're good at distilling in Scotland. We do rather a lot of it.

Of course, we are known around the world for producing Scotch whisky but we also make a lot of gin.

Famously, some 70% of all the gin produced in the UK is made here, north of the border.

Set up to promote the Scottish gin industry and fighting to have Scottish gin recognised as its own drinks category, The Gin Cooperative reckon that the country now has more than a hundred gin brands producing more than 300 different Scottish gins.

The number is rising on what seems like a daily basis as does the number of new distilleries coming on line. One of the latest, Edinburgh's Holyrood distillery, opened its doors this week.

By the time you finish reading this, it would not come as a surprise if another, different distillery announced that they too were to launch imminently in another corner of Scotland.

All of this is worth celebrating.

Which leads us to the first International Scottish Gin Day taking pace this weekend. Main pic is taken ISGD Facebook.

Organised by The Gin Cooperative, it features events taking place in many parts of the world and indeed in many parts of Scotland. You can browse them all here.

Gin Fayre in Edinburgh

The one that particularly clinks our glass is the Gin Fayre being held Saturday 3rd August at the stunning Mansfield Traquair in Edinburgh.

Aiming to showcase some of the finest gins from across Scotland, the venue will be filled with Scottish gin producers with samples for guests to enjoy, cocktail masterclasses, a fully stocked bar and mouth-watering treats and snacks.

Visitors will be given their a Gin Handbook detailing all of the gins on offer, their perfect serve, plus a carefully curated gin cocktail.

Tickets includes a welcome drink plus samples from the distilleries.

There are two sessions: noon-3.30pm,  4.30pm-8pm. Tickets here.

And if you want to know how The Gin Cooperative define a gin as Scottish - an increasingly fraught topic - then their criteria are here.