Highclere Castle gin – Interview

Last week I posted about Highclere Castle gin (if you missed this, you can catch up here). I wanted to learn more so snagged myself a quick Q&A with co-founder Adam von Gootkin…

Can you give us a quick introduction to yourself 
Hi, I’m Adam von Gootkin, co-founder of Onyx Spirits Co., an award-winning craft distillery producing New England’s first whiskey. In 2017, I partnered with the 8th Earl & Countess of Carnarvon, the owners of Highclere Castle, creating the Highclere Castle Cigar Company. This partnership grew and in 2019 we launched Highclere Castle gin. 

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Meet the makers… Dunnet Bay Distillers

To celebrate their seventh birthday, I had a little chat with the team at Dunnet Bay Distillers to get to know them a bit more…

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Shetland Reel Gin online tasting pack

Note: The tasting pack was gifted, but my views of the gin is always independent.

After the success of Shetland Reel gin’s home tasting kit, they have now launched an online tasting kit which allows for six people to try a range of gins over Zoom with a Shetland Reel ambassador.

You can get your hands on an online tasting set from the Shetland Reel website for £78 for six people (aka £13 a head). Make sure you sign up for their newsletter to get 10% off your first purchase and to stay up to date with their new releases.

You can find the Shetland Reel team on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

I was introduced to Shetland Reel by The Gin Cooperative as part of my support for International Scottish Gin Day, make sure you check them out – and their new Scottish gin shop! Let me know your favourite Scottish gin on Twitter and Instagram.

Shetland Reel Gin – Up Helly Aa 2020

Note: The gins featured below were gifted by Shetland Reel Gin but all opinions are very much my own.

You can see our first set of video tastings here.

Whilst Not Up Helly Aa sold out on pre-order, their 2020 and 2019 gins are still available via the website. Make sure you sign up for their newsletter to get 10% off your first purchase and to stay up to date with their new releases.

You can find the Shetland Reel team on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

I was introduced to Shetland Reel by The Gin Cooperative as part of my support for International Scottish Gin Day, make sure you check them out – and their new Scottish gin shop! Let me know your favourite Scottish gin on Twitter and Instagram.

Shetland Reel tasting pack

Note: The tasting pack was gifted to me by Shetland Reel, but I will let you know what I really think.

Shetland Reel gin comes from Saxa Vord Distillery, the most northern distillery in the UK on Unst, which is the mort northern inhabited island. This is a remote distillery, accessible from the Shetland mainland by not one, but two ferry journeys – not including the ferry to get to Shetland in the first place! Fun fact – it’s actually closer to Norway than it is to most of Scotland. It is here that Frank and Debbie Strang regenerated the former RAF site into a tourist resort, and teamed up with Stuart and Wilma Nickerson who own The Malt Whisky Company. Their unique surrounding inspired them to make the most of their local botanicals used in their core range. Recently they have created tasting packs of their three main gins – the Original, Simmer, and Ocean Sent. If you’ve paid attention to my social media, you’ll see I’ve also recorded these tastings with Debbie, which was an absolute blast, and you can watch them here.

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Shetland reel gin video tastings

Debbie from Shetland Reel gin kindly sent me one of their tasting packs to try, and we decided it would be fun to do some virtual tastings together. I’ve collated the videos below for your viewing pleasure…

You can find the Shetland Reel team on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. You can get your hands on a tasting pack for £39.50 from their website (at time of writing).

I was introduced to Shetland Reel by The Gin Cooperative as part of my support for International Scottish Gin Day, make sure you check them out and pour yourself a Scottish gin on 24 October to celebrate! Let me know your favourite Scottish gin on Twitter and Instagram.

Meet the makers…Roehill Springs

As we lead up to International Scottish Gin Day, I’ve teamed up with Roehill Springs gin to find out a bit more about them. They kindly sent me a bottle of their Gin No.5 to try, and I chatted to Shirley, one half of the founding team, about their background, inspirations and future plans.

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