Edinburgh Gin – definitely not the ouzo of the North –
For those who haven’t visited Scotland’s capital city, but know about its craggily bleak castle and generally dismal weather, it is probably difficult to understand its poetic description as being “The Athens of the North”. Well they might be similarly surprised that the city also gives its name to a classically composed London Dry Gin.
Despite having visited the place countless times throughout my childhood and adult life, I actually got my first taste of Edinburgh Gin late on during a family gathering at my cousin’s house in Hertfordshire; and was immediately taken with its strong and zesty flavour. In fact this 43% spirit wasn’t launched until 2010, but has apparently earned a strong following since.
This is almost certainly partly down to the Edinburgh Gin Distillery having assembled a total of 14 botanicals to give the gin what is described as a “modern” twist. They include lavender, cob nuts, mulberries and pine buds; as well as lemongrass and citrus peels. The effect is refreshing and provides as different a perspective on a London Dry Gin as the birds-eye view you get of Edinburgh from the Castlehill’s famous camera obscura.
The head distiller does his hand-crafting down in a distillery by the Water of Leith where the Queen’s beautiful Britannia Royal Yacht finally ended up. Tours are available and will give those who sail that far a chance to inspect a quirky copper still that resembles a robot, which Wallace would have been proud to have built. That’s Wallace whose dog Gromit ended up wearing The Wrong Trousers, not the one who defeated an English army near Stirling in 1297.
“The effect is refreshing and provides as different a perspective on a London Dry Gin as the birds-eye view you get of Edinburgh from the Castlehill’s famous camera obscura”
