Pickering's Gin spruces up Christmas

Pickering's Gin from Edinburgh's Summerhall distillery is reimagining the conventional bauble this Christmas with a gin-filled offering.

Pickering’s Gin has transformed Summerhall Distillery into Edinburgh’s answer to Santa’s workshop as they hand-fill, ribbon and box thousands of gin-filled Christmas tree baubles.

The baubles have been met with great demand, the company says, with Christmas shoppers sprucing up their trees with the limited-edition decorations, which, in typical Pickering’s style, provide a suitably quirky take on tradition.

Marcus Pickering, co-founder of Pickering’s Gin, remarks: “The baubles started off as a bit of fun for a Christmas fair and people went absolutely wild for them. We sold hundreds in minutes, and decided to spread the Christmas cheer by adding them to our production line as a fun, seasonal offering.

“It’s a brilliant end to a monumental year for Pickering’s, which saw us increase capacity, expand to new international markets and launch Ginerosity, the first social enterprise gin.”

The popularity of the baubles, each filled with a 50ml measure of gin, is testament to the current craft movement which has seen demand surge for original products that challenge the orthodox.

Dave Quinnell, general manager of Pickering’s Gin, says: “It seems our Christmas spirit is sweeping the nation as we have been inundated with requests from across the country.

“Having already increased production to four times our anticipated sales, we now have to release the baubles in stages so that production can keep up!

“Forget Christmas holly, this is the year of the juniper.”

Next year, the distillery will up production to 300,000 baubles, with production expected to begin in early January to ensure demand is met.  

The next batch of the baubles will be released in early December, and is expected to sell out quicker than the last. Gin connoisseurs are encouraged to join Pickering’s Ginfriends mailing list on their website, members of which are notified 24 hours before general release.

Pickering’s Gin baubles are retailed in a gift pack containing 6 differently coloured baubles (RRP: £30.00).

Limited stocks of Pickering’s Gin Christmas baubles are currently available at a selected number of retailers, including: Harvey Nichols, 31 Dover, Woodwinters Wine and Cambridge Wine Company.

14 November 2016 - Sam Coyne The Drinks Report, editorial assistant