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Here's everything you need to know about Great Glen gin!
Jul 7, 2023
Known as “Scotland’s smallest distillery“, Great Glen Distillery is the home of Craft Gin Club’s stunning July 2023 Gin of the Month, Great Glen Light & Zesty Highland Gin.
In this feature, we are discovering how this incredible tipple is made, where Great Glen Distillery is and what other Great Glen gins are available right now.
Gin fans, scroll down to reveal all!
Great Glen Light & Zesty Highland Gin
Distilled by the Great Glen Distillery
40% ABV
How is Great Glen Light & Zesty Highland Gin made?
Like all Great Glen gins, Great Glen Light & Zesty Highland Gin is distilled by the Great Glen Distillery, which was founded by friends Adam Dwyer and Daniel Campbell.
They distil Great Glen Light & Zesty Highland Gin using botanicals chosen because they capture the essence of summer in Great Glen, with its vast, intensely blue skies, sun-dappled moors and vibrant celebrations. From the Highland Games of the region to the throngs of visitors looking for adventure among the Scottish Highlands and lochs, there’s an unquenchable zest for life in the area.
We wanted to do two things. Firstly, to take this opportunity to use botanicals we hadn’t used before in our other gins. Secondly, to create a gin with a summer feel. To achieve that, I thought back to a dish I had made when I was a chef at a restaurant: I used pink peppercorns and vanilla to cure Scottish salmon, and I’d pair it with fresh watercress and orange. The flavour combination was stunning.
— Adam Dwyer, Great Glen Distillery Co-Founder
Inspired by the way the peppery flavours cut through sweetness, Adam and Daniel decided to use botanicals like watercress, pink peppercorn and cubeb, with their fresh, peppery notes, complemented by the sweet citrus flavours of orange zest and orange blossom.
The full list of Great Glen Light & Zesty Highland Gin botanicals can be found here: juniper, coriander, angelica, pink peppercorn, orris, liquorice, orange zest, cubeb pepper, watercress, orange blossom, eucalyptus
They distil those botanicals in a still called Jacqueline, after Daniel’s mother, and dilute the spirit with pure water from Loch Ness. The result? Scottish summer in a glass!
Where in Scotland is the Great Glen Distillery?
The Great Glen Distillery is in Drumnadrochit, Scotland, a little village on the shores of the famous Loch Ness.
What is the Great Glen?
Visible from space, the Great Glen is a huge valley in the Scottish Highlands that stretches 62 miles long, eroded by glaciers more than 10,000 years ago.
These glaciers carved the valley below present-day sea level, forming a series of deep lochs (lakes), the largest and most famous of which is Loch Ness.
The Great Glen hosts the most prominent fault in the British Isles, the Great Glen Fault. It originated towards the end of the Caledonian Orogeny (around 430-390 million years ago), and cuts diagonally across the Highlands from Fort William to Inverness.
What are the tasting notes of this Great Glen gin?
Great Glen Light & Zesty Highland Gin is rich and complex with enduring notes of fresh orange zest, followed by a peppery kick from watercress and pink peppercorns. They are complemented by a sophisticated layer of floral undertones from the orange blossom and eucalyptus.
How do you serve Great Glen Gin?
Our favourite way to serve Great Glen gin is to mix Great Glen Light & Zesty Highland Gin with Bon Accord tonic. And the perfect Great Glen gin garnish? For us, it has to be lemon slices and black peppercorns. Together, these ingredients make for a fabulous Scottish G&T. Find the perfect Great Glen gin and tonic recipe here…
Great Glen gins are also great in cocktails like Craft Gin Club’s Pink Gin Spritz! This recipe mixes Great Glen Light & Zesty Highland Gin with Schweppes Pink Soda and Craft Gin Club’s bespoke Pink Gin Spritz Cocktail Syrup. Light, bright and pink, it’s a gorgeous cocktail and you can find the recipe here…
What gins does Great Glen Distillery make?
Great Glen Distillery makes a range of delicious craft gins. Here is our Great Glen gin review…
Great Glen Premium Scottish Gin
Great Glen Distillery’s signature expression, this beautiful Scottish craft gin is made with Scottish heather, red sorrel and frankincense, giving it a wonderful flavour profile that’s herby, tart and piney in all of the right places.
Great Glen Premium Scottish Pink Gin
This stunning pink Great Glen gin is made with Scottish raspberries and is vapour-infused with hibiscus and rose petals to give you a pink gin of stunning quality that’s a true expression of its home.
Great Glen Spiced Mulled Christmas Gin
Great Glen’s Christmas gin, this spiced tipple is delicious at any time of year. Finished with glittering 25ct gold flakes and infused with myrrh and frankincense, it’s an extra special craft gin.
Great Glen Inverness Gin
Made with chanterelle mushrooms, kombu sea kelp, elderflower and fennel seeds, this unique craft gin is a rich layering of savoury and floral flavours, all elevated by hits of citrus. It’s sure to be the star of any craft gin collection.
Where can you buy Great Glen Gin?
Great Glen Distillery gins are available to buy from the Great Glen Distillery website. The Craft Gin Club Online Shop is also one of the best Great Glen gin stockists. Check out the range here!
Great Glen Light & Zesty Highland Gin is also available to buy as part of Craft Gin Club’s July 2023 Gin of the Month box. Take a look at everything that comes with it here…
