Hello, Gin.

Originating in Holland sometime in the 16th century, an old drink called Genever found its way to England where it was quickly lapped up and became one of the biggest spirit success stories in history. Then known as gin, it changed the way people drank. In fact it became so popular that it made alcoholics out of otherwise restrained folks. Such was its popularity that the English government tried several times to ban the spirit altogether. The famous drawing of ‘Gin Lane’ by William Hogarth in 1751 depicts a scene of poverty in stark contrast to its twin work titled ‘Beer Street’ in which noble citizens enjoy the finer things in life while drinking beer.

How It's Made

Gin is typically made starting with a strong neutral spirit, one that is usually distilled multiple times for purity. The spirit is then distilled again in the presence of various 'botanicals' which impart new flavours into the spirit. This can be done by steeping the botanicals directly in the belly of the spirit still or by placing the botanicals in a basket which hangs in the neck of the still where flavours are extracted by the rising alcohol vapours during distillation.

For economic and logistical reasons, most gin distilleries purchase bulk neutral spirit instead of making it themselves. Whilst this is a perfectly legitimate way of making gin with some strong arguments in favour of this approach, it has caused some purists to call out the practice as 'lazy'. Not everyone does this though. Some of the gins we'll be showcasing in this calendar are fermented and distilled in-house from raw materials such as grape juice.

Interestingly, the main legal requirement to be able to call a spirit a gin is that the main botanical influence must be from juniper, but there is no regulation about how much juniper is needed. That's lead to a spectrum of gin profiles from classic dry gins through to heavily flavoured and colourful gins which could easily be mistaken as something else in a blind taste.

Juniper?

The quintessential gin botanical, juniper is a small evergreen shrub that grows in almost all regions of the world. It’s a tough plant that not only grows in well fertilised gardens but also survives in places most other plants avoid, like rocky outcrops, sandy soils and high altitudes. Over 50 species of juniper exist, but by far the most commonly encountered species is the ‘Common Juniper’ (surprise!). Their ‘berries’ are actually seeds surrounded by flesh with a distinct ‘piney’ taste. If you take a couple of juniper berries and crush them with your fingers, you’ll realise just how much the flavour of gin is linked to juniper.

Gin in Australia

Over the past decade, Australia has seen an explosion in craft gin production. The abundance of unique Australian botanicals continues to be a major drawcard for creative distillers. Be it davidson’s plum, anise myrtle or lilly pilly, there’s no shortage of unique local ingredients to put in a botanical basket and the diversity of Aussie gin is all the better for it.

A couple of years ago, we remarked in this section of that year's gin advent that we had become a little edgy about the state of the market. With many hundreds of different Aussie gins on the market produced by a couple hundred distilleries around the country, many of them very small operations, the industry was on shaky ground even before the cost of living crisis started to be discussed around dining tables. Unfortunately this year we saw some prominent gin distilleries close their doors and there are many others who are currently struggling to make ends meet. The purchase of the advent calendar you're currently consuming helps to keep some of these smaller players going, albeit in a small way.

This Advent Calendar

This advent calendar, now in its eighth year, works just like a regular advent calendar, except that instead of chocolates and nativity scenes, this one is chock full of premium Australian gin. Behind every flap is 30ml of the good stuff. Rip it out of its slot then come back to this page and tap on the corresponding day to reveal some interesting facts about the liquid you’re sipping and the distillery that made it.

A note about the notes

Where we have included specific tasting notes, these have mostly been provided by the distillers themselves so that you can see what they make of their own creations (and whether you agree!). We've added our own thoughts here and there.

Strawberry Gin
Grove Distillery, WA

Having transformed their establishment from a winery, the team at Grove assembled a spirits portfolio spanning absinthe to whisky. There’s a bunch of other stuff that Grove does differently too – not keen on settling simply on being a distillery, a visit to the site can also involve a stay at the attached bungalow, a visit to the attached brewery or a cup of tea at the café. The business was sold last year and the new owners have doubled down on their commitment to the spirits portfolio.

In 2018, Australians were horrified to learn that strawberries had been contaminated by needles in some supermarkets. The industry went into shock and dumped countless tons of perfectly good strawberries into landfill. The folks at Grove knew it had to step in and help somehow, so they bought 400kg of strawberries and set about infusing them into their house gin for three months.

This gin is great in a Strawberry Mojito. Muddle 4 mint leaves and combine with 30ml Strawberry Gin, 10ml lemon juice and 10ml sugar syrup in a shaker. Shake until cold then pour into a tumbler half-filled with ice. Top up with a few splashes of tonic water.

Gluttony Gin
Sin Gin Distillery, WA

Sin Gin Distillery, located on the outskirts of Perth, is run by owners Mark and Kate. Mark was an Air Traffic Controller for 30 years and now head distiller, while Kate was a hotelier and is now the boss. Established in 2017, the distillery now has a team of over 15 and a range of gins including their original 'Seven Deadly Sins' series and a handful of more limited releases.

Gluttony Gin is part of the distillery's core range, a series of gins inspired by the classic concept of the seven deadly sins, each with a unique flavour profile to represent a specific sin. 'Gluttony' is crafted with an indulgent focus on rich, fruit-forward flavours. It features nine botanicals - juniper, coriander, cardamom, angelica, lemon myrtle, liquorice, sweet orange peel, orris and calamus.

Australian Botanical Gin
Tattarang Springs Distilling, WA

Tattarang Springs Distilling is a small batch distillery based on 120 acres at the southern tip of the Darling Ranges. Led by a distiller, chef, and horticulturalist, the distillery follows a grain-to-glass philosophy. Most ingredients in their gins and vodkas are foraged, grown and crafted on site.

Tattarang Springs' Australian Botanical Gin contains bush lemon, marri gum flowers and wild aniseed that combine for an aromatic and delicate flavour profile. The water that's used to cut this gin down to bottling strength is sourced from local springs. Ideally served with a light tonic or soda to let those delicate flavours shine through.

Oriental Gin
Stag Lane Distillery / Mary Monica, VIC

Stag Lane Distillery has named their series of gins in honor of Mary Monica, a go-getter five generations back who ran a pub in country VIC. Her love of hospitality has endured almost a century later, with the founding of Stag Lane Distillery on a farm in the Yarra Valley. Adopting a regenerative approach from the outset, the distillery raises livestock to integrate into the pastures, which themselves are planted without herbicides and pesticides to improve the soil microbiome. They've planted yuzu, limes, juniper and sloe berries, all of which are destined for their future gin production.

Oriental Gin is a gin inspired by Southeast Asia. It's made using a whole host of botanicals grown on-site, including lime, cinnamon, ginger and lemongrass. There's also the distinct aroma of pandan leaves. The key botanicals are picked fresh and distilled within 24 hours. As a result, gin is only made during the harvesting season and supply needs to last until the next time fruit appears on the trees.

The Dry
Ester Spirits, NSW

Created by two hospitality veterans, Corinna and Felix, Ester Spirits firmly believes that life’s too short for anything less than ‘fuck off deliciousness’. Inspired by an obsessive quest for the perfect
Negroni, the duo began their distilling journey over 10 years ago with a tiny still in a Newtown backyard. After many iterations and non-stop tinkering, Ester Spirits officially launched in 2020.

The botanical load in each of Ester's gins is higher than most others, creating a wrap-around-the-tongue character in the liquid. The Dry is a juniper forward London dry style gin with lashings of sweet citrus and macadamia for a
textured mouth finish.

Naturally, this gin makes a great Negroni - just add 30ml sweet vermouth and 30ml bitter aperitif (eg. Campari or... dare we say it... White Possum Scarletta).

Macedon Dry Gin
Animus Distillery, VIC

Animus Distillery began in a 'cost efficient' manner typical of start-up distilleries, initially operating out of a garage in Melbourne. However, this wasn't to last long - the success of their range of gins meant that they quickly outgrew the space. The team relocated to a comfortable space in Kyneton, Victoria, complete with a cocktail lounge that's open to the public and distillery garden where they grew many of the botanicals used in production. Sadly, in July 2024 the distillery shut its doors permanently after succumbing to economic challenges.

There was no shortage of innovation at Animus. Custom filtration of the spirit and a unique vapour distillation method ensured each batch of gin was packed with flavour. The team also insisted on bottling every gin at 50% abv, making their series of gins particularly suitable for making Martinis. The Macedon Dry is no exception. Featuring lemon myrtle and mountain pepperberry, it's a nod to the London dry style but with a unique twist that will stand as the team's legacy for a long time yet.

Aqua Vitae Raspberry Gin
7K Distillery, TAS

7K Distillery was founded by a lad who grew up in the country with an insatiable interest in making things. While doing an apprenticeship, Tyler began to dream about creating his own distillery - from scratch. So in 2016 that's exactly what he did. The initial building for the distillery was cut from two used shipping containers and a 1100L copper pot still was built from the ground up. Designing and building the still from scratch meant that it would perfectly fit the confined size of the shipping containers and gave Tyler more of a personal connection with the still itself. The distillery has since outgrown its initial creative shell several times but the upside is the new location has enough room for a cellar door!

One of the distillery's core principles is to use local Tasmanian and Aussie ingredients as much as possible. This Aqua Vitae Raspberry Gin blends juniper with raspberries (specifically the Willamette variety) from a farm close to the distillery. The raspberries are infused in a dry gin base, naturally sweetening and colouring the spirit. There's no extra sugar or syrup added.

Maritime Gin
Bass & Flinders Distillery, VIC

Situated on the Mornington Peninsula, a destination for premium local produce, Bass & Flinders Distillery is the brainchild of two locals who noticed a prevalence of small wineries in the region but no distilleries. Established in 2009, at the distillery’s core is a 300 litre copper Alembic style still which doubles as the distillery’s logo. Their gins are made from scratch by distilling local wine into a base spirit before subsequently re-distilling the base spirit with botanicals. It’s a time consuming way of doing things but something the distillery feels is important to retain a sense of provenance in the end product.

Maritime Gin is inspired by the coastline around the Mornington Peninsula where the bush meets the sea. Locally foraged kelp joins locally foraged samphire and locally picked vine leaves in the botanical basket, which also features coastal saltbush, lemon myrtle, currant bush and juniper. The base spirit made from distilled wine is quite viscous so after re-distillation with botanicals the result is a savoury gin with robust mouthfeel. Don’t be confused by this gin’s name though - it isn’t a navy strength gin.

Australian Dry Gin
Finders Distillery, NSW

Based in northern Sydney, Finders Distillery opened its doors at a rather inconvenient time, barely a few days after the first COVID lockdowns were announced. The founders, Georgia and Kyle, held careers in the fashion and aviation industry respectively, then decided to throw their life savings into building Finders Distillery. All of their spirits are distilled using a 300L copper pot still and cut back with filtered Sydney tap water.

Australian Dry Gin is distilled in small batches using a wheat spirit base and nine botanicals including juniper, coriander seed, angelica root, orris root, cassia bark, orange peel, chamomile, native gum and wattleseed. Due to the quantity of juniper used in the botanical basket, this gin may go cloudy upon dilution as the oils precipitate out.

Pashlova Gin
Brogan's Way Distillery, VIC

Based in Richmond in the heart of Melbourne, Brogan's Way Distillery is run by a father and daughter team. The father, Simon, is an ex-automotive production manager and graduate of the Institute of Brewing and Distilling. The daughter, Brogan, is the one who leads 'the way' and trained in laboratory science before applying her technical knowledge to spirits instead. She also happens to be one of the country's youngest distillers. When they opened their doors in 2018, Brogan was just 24!

This playful gin certainly stretches the definition of what a gin is, so purists may be a little offended. However, we make no apologies, because this is just a delicious little creation. To make it, the distillers mix spirit with cream and distill it. Apparently, and perhaps not surprisingly, this process is rather messy and makes for a hefty cleaning workload post-distillation. The results are worth it though. The distilled creamy spirit tastes silky smooth and with the addition of a passionfruit infusion makes for a bold and celebratory gin that's perfect for sipping neat.

New England Dry Gin
Dobson's Distillery, NSW

Distiller and founder Stephen Dobson is known in the industry as ‘The Doc’. We’re not sure if his whiskies should be used as medicines though. Akin to an eccentric alchemist, Stephen says it is the birch in the canoe which transports his spirits down the Kentucky River for bottling that sets them apart. Together with his wife Lyn, they packed up their city life for a tree change and set up Dobson’s Distillery in the New England region of NSW. They’ve never looked back. The distillery now operates three stills from 100L to 500L in capacity.

New England Dry Gin is a fragrant drop featuring core botanicals including juniper, citrus and coriander as well as the floral additions of David Austin rose, lavender and elderflower. This gin has been made for close to ten years. In fact, it was one of the few gins profiled by Gourmet Traveller back in 2014 when the Australian gin movement was in its infancy.

Mt & Sea Gin
Headlands Distilling, NSW

The first distillery in Wollongong, Headlands Distilling was founded by four mates in 2015. The founders met in school and university, going on to become an investment analyst, an engineer, an R&D research consultant and a postdoctoral research fellow, until they put their heads together and decided to open a distillery instead. From the outset, their goal was to operate a ‘grain to glass’ model where all the ingredients are sourced directly from farmers, then fermented and distilled on-site. Sustainability is also high on the agenda. The distillery is powered using 100% renewable energy and they operate a bottle refill program to cut down on glass waste.

To make this gin, grain grown by a friend of the founders in the Riverina region of NSW is harvested
and brought to the distillery where it’s fermented and distilled into a base spirit (incidentally, this took three years to perfect). It’s then distilled again in the presence of botanicals including juniper, rainforest limes, coastal wattleseed and macadamia.

Affinity Gin
Karu Distillery, NSW

Based at the foothills of the Blue Mountains, Karu Distillery is a compact operation with the two founders, Nick and Ally, managing every aspect of the business. Having started the business in their twenties, these two are some of the youngest distillers in Australia and creators of some of the nation’s most awarded gins. Nevertheless, their journey hasn’t been without obstacles. With one main road in and out of the property frequently inundated, supplies are frequently cut off at crucial times. The 2019 bushfires that tore through much of the area also came within meters of completely wiping out the distillery.

Affinity Gin, the distillery's original release, is a juniper forward gin with a strong citrus influence, delicate floral notes, rich spices, and a hint of natural sweetness of vanilla beans and almonds. The key botanicals include Australian grown vanilla sourced from the Daintree Rainforest, pomegranates from the Hawkesbury region and juniper from Macedonia.

Silver Needle Gin
Five Eleven Distilling, SA

Five Eleven Distilling is the sister company to Six Twelve Brewing, both based in North-East Adelaide. The original Six Twelve name was inspired by the head brewer who is seven foot tall (ie. six foot, twelve inches). That's a lot of brewer. The distillery is family owned by ex-farmers and a new kid on the block, having been established in late 2022. The distiller is, however, six foot four. Hmm...

Silver Needle Gin is a unique drop inspired by the delicate flavours of white tea. The base spirit is made in-house using malted barley grown in south Australia, which is then fermented into a mash by Six Twelve Brewing, then distilled into a malt spirit. Botanicals in this gin include silver needle white tea, elderflower and peach.

Future Fruit Gin
Green Cask Distilling, VIC

Green Cask Distilling is a new operation based out of an electrician's warehouse in inner-city Melbourne. Founded by a sparkie and an ex-food scientist, the distillers delight in trying to pack as much flavour in each bottle as humanly possible. This means experimenting with a wide range of obscure ingredients. Indeed, it's impossible to ignore the countless jars ordaining the shelves inside the small distillery.

Future Fruit Gin is one of the wackiest, surprising gins we've ever tasted. It begins its life as a humble London Dry Gin, distilled with a heavy dose of citrus and peppery spices. The distillate is then used as a blank canvas, to which a number of fruit extracts, fruit acid and some cane sugar is added. The blended gin is then cold filtered. To say this gin is fruity would be the understatement of the year. We get fistfuls of pineapple and melon, making this a tough gin to use as a mixer, but that's OK since it's so interesting to sip neat anyway.

Blue Haven Sunset Gin
Esperance Distillery, WA

Esperance Distillery launched in 2020 as a father and son team, previously working as an electrician and environmental engineer. At the time of opening it was the smallest commercial distillery in Australia, operating with a tiny 30L pot still. Located eight hours drive from Perth, their spirits are intended to pay homage to their remote environment. Sustainability is high on the agenda - their operation is carbon neutral (albeit currently this is with the assistance of carbon credits), featuring innovations such as bottle shrink sleeves made from corn starch, a carbon negative printer used for making the label and a glass bottle that uses as little glass as possible.

Blue Haven Sunset Gin is Esperance Distillery's take on the popular colour-changing gin category pioneered by Husk Distillery's Ink Gin several years ago. Blue Haven Sunset is made with wild-foraged melaleuca, chilli, ginger and native basil. An infusion of butterfly pea flowers results in the characteristic acid-sensitive tint which changes from blue to purple when mixed with soda or tonic.

Australian Dry Gin
Puss & Mew Distillery, VIC

Puss & Mew was founded in suburban Melbourne by a teacher and insurance broker just as the last COVID restrictions in Victoria were being lifted. The husband and wife team spent two years sampling and experimenting with different gin botanicals before deciding that opening a craft gin distillery was their destiny.

The distillery gets its name from an old tomcat in a window or door, which in the UK back in the 18th century would have been a clear hint that someone was illegally making and selling gin inside. If you had wanted to purchase some gin, you'd simply knock on the tomcat or ask it a question then place your receptacle under a small spout which would magically appear to fill it.

Puss & Mew's Australian Dry Gin is inspired by the Australian Outback. The juniper-led base spirit is complimented with finger lime, peppermint gum, wattleseed and cinnamon myrtle. Tasmanian pepperberry provides a spicy finish. For a classic G&T mix this gin with a premium Indian tonic with a savoury garnish such as a sprig of rosemary.

Portside Gin
EARP Distilling, NSW

Earp Distilling was founded in 2019 in the old industrial precinct of Newcastle. The brainchild of Michael and Richard Earp, the distillery is the latest addition to the Earp family’s growing business empire, on top of their existing ceramics and tiles factory located about a hundred meters away. The distillery features two large automated stainless steel stills which do all the grunt work in making the distillery’s products, contrasted with a dozen tiny (<10L volume) stills located in their R&D room for rapid product development. This same room houses over a hundred different tinctures made from botanicals sourced from all over the world.

During development of Earp’s core gins, the team spent months progressing through hundreds of recipes, incrementally numbering each attempt as they went. Portside Gin is their navy strength gin and clocks in at 57% abv. It's made with juniper, coriander, angelica root, wattle seed, orris root, chamomile and lemon myrtle. Perfect in a Martini with a 2:1 gin to dry vermouth ratio.

Classic Gin
78 Degrees Distillery, SA

78 Degrees Distillery, previously known as Adelaide Hills Distillery, was founded in 2014 by winemaker Sacha La Forgia, who worked in wineries around the world before a stint at a grappa distillery in Italy where he was inspired to start his own distillery. Upon returning home, he made his own copper still and launched 78 Degrees Distillery in the Adelaide Hills. The distillery has since changed hands a couple of times, during which it bore the brunt of being in a wider corporate drinks portfolio, which has caused it to lose a little shine in the eyes of bartenders.

78 Degrees' Classic Gin was launched in 2015, which became one of the earlier Australian gins to gain widespread acclaim. Botanicals used in this gin include juniper, coriander, citrus, clove, cinnamon, pepper, star anise, orris root and angelica root.

Classic Gin
Spring Bay Distillery, TAS

Established in 2015, Spring Bay Distillery is the realisation of a dream for owners Cam and Suzy Brett. By the time they received their manufacturer’s licence in 2015 Spring Bay was only the 12th licensed distillery in Tasmania. Located 500 metres from the sea, Spring Bay Distillery has a unique terroir claim to its spirits. Most afternoons, sea mist drifts up the valley and falls on the roof of the distillery, later collected when the rain falls. This sea salt imparts a unique profile to the water which is both soft and sweet, and it's this water that's used to cut back all their spirits to bottling strength.

This Classic Gin is triple distilled, featuring ten botanicals including native bush pepper, lemon grown on-site and Tasmanian wattleseed. The botanicals are steeped for one or two days in the pot still prior to distillation. More juniper and liquorice root are placed in the botanical basket for vapour infusion. This provides a traditional juniper-forward palate and a sweet liquorice finish.

Forty Spotted Classic Gin
Lark Distillery, TAS

The first licensed distillery in Tasmania for 150 years, Lark Distillery and its founder Bill Lark can rightly be credited with sowing the seed for the rise of craft distilling in Australia. At the time, Bill noticed that Tasmania shared many of the ideal climatic whisky-making conditions as Scotland. Lobbying his local MP to lift a ban on the registration of small distilleries enabled Lark to get off the ground and make history. Lark Distillery now runs a 1800 litre copper pot still and a 500 litre spirit still.

Although the distillery is known mostly for its whisky, they do in fact produce a series of gins named after the Forty-spotted Parladote, one of the rarest birds in Australia. Forty Spotted Classic Gin incorporates traditional botanicals such as juniper, coriander and lemon peel alongside the hero ingredient, Tasmanian pepperberry. Each botanical is separately steeped in spirit prior to distillation, distilled individually then blended together afterwards.

Strange Omen Small Batch Gin
Ironhouse Distillery, TAS

Ironhouse Distillery is an add-on project to Ironhouse Brewery which was founded in 2007 in northeastern Tasmania. Named after an old droving hut named 'Iron House' which stood on the distillery's current grounds, Ironhouse Distillery is where head distiller Michael crafts some of the newest Tasmanian spirits on the market using a hybrid still, with his whiskies sold under the 'Tasman' brand and other products including gin under the 'Strange Omen' brand.

This small batch gin is designed to be a full flavoured gin that stands up in a wide variety of cocktails. Grapes which are grown for the property's winery arm are crushed, fermented into wine, then distilled into a grape spirit. This is the base spirit for the gin. A further distillation is performed in the presence of botanicals including juniper, Tasmanian pepperberry and lemon myrtle.

Triple Juniper Gin
Never Never Distilling, SA

Never Never Distilling has been an ambitious operation from the outset, led by three young lads with backgrounds in the drinks industry (one of them was a former brand ambassador for Johnnie Walker).
The team were originally inspired by the remote outback of Australia (the ‘Never Never’) and laser focused on producing highly original, daring
spirits designed for bartenders. Founded in 2016, the distillery went from strength to strength to the point where a bottle of Never Never gin could be spotted in virtually any bar in Australia. In May 2024, the distillery was acquired by Asahi, so expect their growth to continue for years to come.

As the distillery's flagship product, the Triple Juniper gin is quite an interesting study into the hero botanical of all gins - juniper. To make this gin, juniper is macerated in spirit before distillation, placed in the pot still at the time of distillation, and also placed in the botanical basket in the path of the rising alcoholic vapours. These three methods give rise to the name, Triple Juniper. This heavy dose of juniper is balanced out by a blend of eight other botanicals, including coriander, fresh lime, fresh lemon, licorice, angelica root, orris root, native pepperberry and cinnamon.

Organic Bare Dry Gin
White Possum, VIC

Some of you may be aware we not only design, bottle and assemble tasting sets and advent calendars such as this one, we're also a distillery ourselves. We've been makers of boutique liqueurs since 2018, although for much of that time we avoided making a gin as it wasn't what we knew best. But when a few bartenders and restaurant owners asked us for a plain and simple gin that could be used as a 'blank canvas' in their mixology, we went about experimenting.

Organic Bare Dry Gin is built upon a base spirit made with organic sugar cane from Queensland. In this spirit we macerate organic juniper and organic coriander and distill it again. That's it. Just two botanicals. Originally released exclusively for bars and restaurants in a 5 litre format, we've since bottled a small quantity and made it available on our website.

Pair this gin with a regular or flavoured tonic. It's also perfect in a Negroni as it doesn't have any particular botanical leaning that would lead to flavour confusion, especially if paired with a complex vermouth.

Sloe Gin
Adams Distillery, TAS

Merry Christmas! So far you've made it through 24 days of a flavour rollercoaster! Most advent calendars end at Day 24, but we've always preferred to include an extra something for the big day.

When Adam Saunders, a builder who helped construct Boags Brewery, met Adam Pinkard, a paramedic with a dream to make whisky, the vision for Adams Distillery was set. The path to opening certainly wasn’t smooth sailing though. Construction at their first proposed site was halted by council just as the foundations were laid. Appeals failed, dreams were shattered but the guys held on and pushed ahead with an ambitious new build at a different site. A couple of years later, once they'd impressed the industry with the quality of their new-make spirit, they pushed the button on a multi-million dollar expansion featuring a 5,500L spirit still, a 12,500L wash still, grain silos, a grist mill, a new mash tun and new 8,500L fermenters.

Then, in 2021, the unthinkable happened. While an employee was preparing a distillation, the ethanol caught fire and the ensuing blaze razed the distillery to the ground. The employee sustained major burns but thankfully survived after several skin grafts and an extended stay in hospital. The Adams were battered, emotionally and physically, but eventually decided to rebuild.

Although the distillery was originally built to make whisky, in 2017 the two Adams decided to branch out into gin. This Sloe Gin is made by infusing wild-harvested sloe berries in a dry gin, itself made using a fairly traditional selection of botanicals - angelica root, chamomile flowers, cardamom pods, cassia bark, coriander seeds, elderflower, juniper, lemon myrtle, orange peel and orris root. The gin is then aged in ex-Pinot Noir casks which are drawn from their whisky making stockpile.

With love from all of us at White Possum. Till next time ;)