23 | Q4 2022 Oct22327 Best Artisan Gin Distillery - Highlands Located in the Highlands of Scotland, Roehill Springs Distillery (Roehill Springs) is a small artisan distillery sitting alongside a family-run farm that has been in the Morrison family for 60 years. Led by husband and wife team, Duncan and Shirley Morrison, all of the work on the farm is carried out by family members who handcraft small batches of premium gin using the finest locally foraged traditional botanicals and natural spring water. In light of Roehill Springs being crowned Best Artisan Gin Distillery – Highlands, we take a closer look. Roehill Springs Distillery’s gins are all distilled, bottled, waxed, and packaged by hand, producing numerous small batches of gin using different botanicals and different quantities of botanicals. The distillery’s traditional copper pot still with large column and built-in vapour basket gives the vapour lots of copper contact, with stillmen calling this “the copper kiss”, which makes for a lighter, fruitier gin. Duncan Morrison himself is a master distiller. As well as running the family farm, he has worked for 12 years as a stillman and gained the Institute of Brewing & Distilling’s General Certificate in Distilling. Duncan dreamed of making his own gin for years, and finally found the courage to go for it a few years ago! He says, “We kept note of all of the different recipes and we nosed and tasted them ourselves first, before offering them to family members and friends for their feedback. Recipe No. 5 came out the firm favourite, and so, after some pondering about the name, someone suggested it be called Gin No. 5 – and so it is!” Since, Gin No. 5 has gone on to be awarded a gold medal in the 2021 IWSC Gin Awards with a massive 96 points. One delighted gin enthusiast comments, “I had two of your Gin No. 5s with ice, Fevertree light, and lemon and it was a gorgeous taste. Light and fresh. Thank you and good luck. I am sure you will do fabulously with such a lovely bottle and great tasting gin.” Not only does Roehill Springs have one awardwinning gin under its belt, but its Navy Strength Gin was also named best London Dry in Scotland at the World Gin Awards 2022. So, where did the name company name “Roehill Springs” come from? Quite simply, the spring rises on a piece of land called Roehill, a name inspired by the abundance of roe deer who roam freely there. So, what could be a better name for a distillery situated on this beautiful patch of earth? Not only was the name influenced by the deer, but also the logo which features a roe deer head. Duncan comments, “Roe deer are elegant, graceful, and rather secretive; qualities we hope you will agree could be used to describe our gin.” The story of the springs goes back further. Up until 1977, Roehill Croft was occupied by brother and sister, John and Bell Wood, and back then, the property had no electricity or running water. Every day, rain or shine, Bell would walk down through the field into the haugh with a wooden yolk around her shoulders and a bucket on either side to fetch water for the household use. Both John and Bell lived well into their 90s – Perhaps the water from Roehill Spring has healthbenefiting properties! Among the distillery’s range of gins is its limited edition Sparkle Gin for Abbie’s Sparkle Foundation, to raise funds in honour of Abbie’s 21st birthday in October 2023. Abbie’s Sparkle Foundation is a registered charity in Elgin created by Abbie Main before she sadly passed away from sarcoma at age 15. The charity provides support to children affected by cancer, giving them gifts, grants, and holidays at Abbie’s Sparkle Lodge. This gin was created in the autumn when the broadleaf woodland yields a magnificent bounty of richly flavoured, brightly coloured berries. A selection of these berries were handpicked by Duncan, including guelder rose berries, and they are some of the prettiest seeds around, being heart-shaped and various shades of pink. Then there is its Honeyberry Gin, a hit with gin lovers, to which copious amounts of Scottish honeyberries are added at a ratio never before seen in Scotland. No sugar or additives are added, giving a luxurious port-like appearance with a fantastic natural taste. Additionally, the gin contains very little reduction water (if any) as the honeyberries have such high juice content. Ultimately, Roehill Distillery’s customers can’t get enough of its gins, with one of many elated gin fans saying, “My mum and myself had a lovely visit to Roehill Springs gin HQ where we met Duncan, had a great time sampling the gins and learning the procedure to gin making. Very interesting and enjoyable time. Would recommend a visit and definitely recommend a purchase of gin.” Company: Roehill Springs Distillery Ltd Contact: Duncan Morrison Email: [email protected] Website: www.roehillsprings.com
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MTQxNTg3MQ==