Meet our exclusive August 2020 Gin of the Month and the botanicals that make it so special!

At their distillery, far in the north of Scotland, Claire and Martin Murray have been working for years to capture the flavours and scents of the Highlands. And in the incredible special edition gin that we sent our members in their August 2020 Gin of the Month box, they’ve managed to hone in on a particular area of stunning to delight. Made to mirror the windswept stretch of sand where the Scottish Highlands meet the Atlantic Ocean, you’ve never tasted a gin like this before - it’s one remarkable tipple!

Meet Rock Rose Citrus Coastal Edition Gin and find out a little more about the amazing coastal botanicals that make it so unique.

Our exclusive August 2020 Gin of the Month is the latest gin to come from the amazing Rock Rose Gin Distillery, started and run by the husband and wife duo Martin and Claire Murray, who we first had the pleasure of working with way back in August 2015.

This brand new edition was made just for our members and been designed to coincide with Scotland’s Year of Coasts and Waters. It’s a scrumptious spirit that captures the incredible experience of standing with the sand in your toes and the wind in your hair, at the edge of the world: on Dunnet Bay’s golden sand beaches.

They have managed to achieve those amazing coastal flavours by looking to the bountiful larder that surrounds them. There are three ingredients, in particular, that have been key to giving their gin it’s remarkable flavour.

A company local to Caithness, Shore Seaweed sources kelp for Rock Rose Gin Distillery, who use it to give this gin its incredible oceanic umami flavour.

The very slight salinity you may taste in August’s Gin of the Month box is from salt infused with liquorice, from the Hebridean Mustard Company.

Claire and Martin grow their own lemon verbena in the geodome behind their distillery.

These incredible botanicals were all added to Rock Rose Gin Distillery’s key botanicals, which have come to define their remarkable gin.

One key ingredient that Martin and Claire discovered when they first began exploring their surroundings was water mint, with its soft and refreshing flavour.

But the key to their botanical blend from the start was a hearty little flower called Rhodiola rosea – a rose in the rocks. This flowering plant can flourish in even the harshest environments, weathering the wind and rain on the rocky cliffs of Pentland Firth. Claire and Martin forage for their rose root amongst these ancient stones, following in the footsteps of the Vikings centuries before, who believed this little plant would give them the strength to continue their arduous sea journeys.

Rather than distilling the whole plant or the petals, Martin and Claire use the roots of the rock rose. This unusual botanical imparts a delicate, almost rose-like flavour and aroma to their gin, and connects every drop to the wild cliffs of Caithness.

So key was this tenacious little flower to the botanical blend – and so fitting as a symbol of the distillery – that Claire and Martin named their signature gin after it. And they have been making stunning gins ever since!

Claire and Martin chose a ceramic bottle for their gin. With their hand-hewn feel, these bottles stand out in any gin collection, and Claire and Martin are happy to refill them for gin lovers who hate waste as much as they do.

With so many unique features (and a stunning flavour profile) Rock Rose Gin, their first edition, took the gin world by storm, becoming the only Scottish product to win a three-star Great Taste Award in its first year – but this was just the beginning for this enterprising family distillery in the wilds of Caithness that has lead to the creation of their Rock Rose Citrus Coastal Edition Gin for Craft Gin Club members.

You can still get your hands on this absolutely scrumptious gin by simply becoming a member of our amazing club, here!