Arbikie launches Kirsty’s Gin

A super premium Scottish 'single estate' gin has been launched by Arbikie, which claims to be Scotland’s first farm-to-bottle distillery. Kirsty’s Gin is the second spirit to be released by Arbikie following its launch of Scotland's first potato vodka.

Named after Arbikie’s master distiller Kirsty Black, who has been developing the gin for over two years, the gin uses Arbikie’s potato vodka as its base spirit.

The gin embodies elements of the ocean, rock and land, reflecting the estate’s environment - a 2000-acre farm, stretching out to Lunan Bay on the east coast of Scotland. Kirsty has stuck to a juniper-based recipe with three traditional Scottish botanics, Kelp, Carline Thistle and Blaeberry (also known as Bilberry), all of which grow wild in the Angus area

Arbikie is reviving the site’s distillery tradition, which dates back to the 18th century. It uses copper pot stills to bring the time-honoured art of Scotch whisky distilling to the production of all its spirits.

Kirsty was the mastermind behind the award winning Arbikie Vodka and is excited about the release of the gin:  “I’m delighted to see two years of hard work culminate in ‘Kirsty’s Gin’. I would like to thank all those who helped me along the way in particular Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh Botanics and the Forfar Botanists.  I wanted to create something truly unique with a particular focus on Scottish botanicals, inspired by the environment of the distillery and the Angus region. Not many distillers get the chance to have a drink named after them; so I hope all the gin enthusiasts out there enjoy drinking it as much as I enjoyed making it.”

Kirsty’s Gin is distributed by Gordon and MacPhail with a RRP of £35 and is available UK-wide through major retail outlets.  A list of where Arbikie is available in major retail outlets is listed on the distillery website www.arbikie.com.  

Pictured below: Arbikie master distiller Kirsty Black

3 August 2015 - Felicity Murray The Drinks Report, editor