Arbikie Highland Estate Kirsty's Gin, Scotland

Taste the ocean, rock & land of Arbikie’s home.

A considerable part of Arbikie’s Spirits-distilling philosophy revolves around their understanding, respect, and love for the vast and bountiful land that surrounds them. The three visionary brothers — John, Iain, and David — call themselves “craftsmen of the soil,” and rightly so, for they plant, sow, tend, and harvest the 2,000 acres of land that has been in the Stirling family ever since 1660. The Angus coast area that homes their distillery is a wild one — the red sandstone-tinted soil, tempestuous weather, and its close proximity to the sea all mash together to imprint the Arbikie Spirits with an idiosyncratic make-up that can’t be found anywhere else. Their totally controlled “field-to-bottle” approach is interwoven with creativity, provenance and authenticity, and we can attest that you can taste the dedication in every drop of their premium, high-quality Spirits.

Kirsty’s Gin is a shining example of their practices. It got its name from Kirsty Black, their Master Distiller, who hand-picked the botanicals she felt represented the soul of the Scottish farmlands. The ones that made the final cut were kelp, carline thistle, and blaeberries (no, it’s not a typo, it’s a softer version of a blueberry). All those ingredients were harvested near the distillery and soaked together with a base Spirit made of potatoes — also farm-grown, of course — creating a delicately intertwined balance that won them a Gold Medal at the San Francisco International Spirits Awards.