Debut for Loch Ness Spirits' first gin

Loch Ness Spirits has launched its first product, Loch Ness Gin 'Real and Rare'. This first batch release amounts to 500 bottles, which have been hand-bottled by the founders and directors of Loch Ness Spirits, Lorien and Kevin Cameron-Ross. The couple also "hand-pick" the juniper and local botanicals used in the gin from their estate on the shores of Loch Ness.  

At present, bottles of Loch Ness Gin are exclusively available to purchase online, while the spirit can be sampled by the glass at the bars Scotch & Rye and Bar One in Inverness. The product will soon also be available at other selected establishments around the Loch Ness and Inverness area including Achnagairn House; Bogbain Farm; Bunchrew House; Café 1; Dores Inn; Loch Ness Inn; Simpsons Garden Centre; and The Storehouse.

Speaking at the product launch event aboard the Loch Ness by Jacobite cruise ship Jacobite Rebel, Loch Ness Gin’s co-creator Lorien Cameron-Ross said: “We are delighted to finally be able to bring Loch Ness Gin to market. This is a moment we have been planning and dreaming of for months. Inspired by a local gin tour and noting how rare and precious juniper was, we got to thinking about the juniper around us when we walked the dog at home.
 
"A joke about making our own gin developed into a dream and has now become a reality, through hard work, dogged determination and a great deal of goodwill from friends, family and industry experts. It has been a steep learning curve and we have worked extremely hard to hand pick the juniper and other botanicals, but we have made it, and are desperately proud of the result.
 
“The family has been working the rugged shores of this loch for 500 years and this is just the next stage in that tradition of working the land.”

Kevin Cameron-Ross added: “Real and Rare is just the start for Loch Ness Gin – we have great plans to launch different flavours, blends… We are thrilled to be adding Loch Ness Gin to the growing family of Scottish craft gins."

27 August 2016 - Christopher Coates The Drinks Report, staff writer