Persie Distillery Zesty Citrus Gin – Fruity Gin Made from Hand-Zested Limes & Oranges – Award Winning Scottish Distillery Craft Gin – 50cl 42% ABV

Product Information

Their gin comes in three core bottlings – navy-strength, original and the 1947 – as well as the occasional limited edition. An explosion of limes and blood oranges with piny notes on the nose. On the palate there is a sharp citrus cut-through with a long, zingy finish. To find out more about this distillery and gin, the team offer hour long tours which tell of this history of the estate and the gin journey.

When it comes to accommodation in Scotland, there's a fantastic choice of amazing stays from luxury hotels to glamping getaways. Owners of Persie Gin, Chrissie and Simon have focused their gin production on the adage that 75 per cent to 95 per cent of a gin’s flavour profile is based on smell, creating a Zesty Citrus Gin, a Herby & Aromatic one and their Sweety and Nutty Old Tom Gin. While a conventional tour isn't available, it is well worth visiting the distillery's gin school, which offers visitors the chance to sample straight from the still and to create your own custom Crossbill blends. It would seem rather an obvious step for a budding Scottish distiller to head down the Scotch path, but Fairclough had other ideas: “whisky has just three ingredients and a tightly prescribed process, whereas with gin I can throw myself into the liberated approach to recipe development and creation. It’s like cooking versus baking, and I’m definitely more of a cook.”There is a wide range of diverse distilleries and breweries in the Cairngorms National Park so it depends which is your favourite to drink. It’s not just whisky, either; there’s been a huge growth in Scottish gins recently and you’ll find distilleries like Balmenach (the home of Caorunn gin) and Persie also do gin tours and tastings now too. Aviemore also has its own brewery, Cairngorm Brewery which produces traditional beers such as Wild Cat and Stag. The tour price includes a gin and tonic, which can be enjoyed by the fireside and tutored tasting of the spirits. The gin is made using 12 botanicals including the distinctive Icelandic moss and sheep sorrel to make a rich earthy and floral gin.

Owned by Ian Macleod Distillers, Edinburgh Gin has been a favourite of many for a few years now, and has both a visitor centre and distillery on Rutland Place and a distillery at the Biscuit Factory in Leith. The Distil Your Own tour will showcase the art of distillation and what it takes to create a gin. Visitors will create a bespoke gin, explore the botanicals on offer at Darnley's, tour the distillery and sample the gin range as well as a couple of G&T's.The gins have been well received, but in an exceptionally crowded market, Fairclough undoubtedly has a fight on his hands. He’s branded them well; the 50cl bottles are identical, though each is marked with a splash of colour on the label to hint at the contents within. The tapered bottles are neat, and the logo, in a handwritten font, adds a personal touch, reminding you that this is very much a small, hands on business. Locally, Fairclough has something of a useful tool with which to promote Persie, too – the gin club.

Consistently voted one of Scotland's most popular gins, this island spirit has been making waves since it launched in 2015 thanks to its unique taste and eye-catching bottle, which has also won awards. Plus their Christmas gin baubles sparked a national craze when they sold out in record time when they launched in 2017. Japanese gins are exploding in popularity due to their high quality and if you’re looking for more from the region, try Ki No Bi’s excellent range. Each gin is made separately, though on average each distillation run takes around four hours, yielding 300 – 320 bottles. All three sets of botanicals are macerated for several hours in advance of the run, and the entire mix is added into the pot for distillation.For every low, there was thankfully also a high though, and nothing could quite top the feeling of watching their copper still winding its way up the glen, sunlight bouncing off of its gleaming walls. Producing their first small batch of just 200 bottles in 2013, Crossbill are now running at full production in their relatively new, purpose built home near Glasgow's Barrowlands. Throughout the week, the Oro team run a bespoke programme of Distillery Tours and Tasting Classes, from 10am – 4pm, Monday to Friday. Over coffee, Chrissie Fairclough, who founded Persie with her husband Simon, reveals how the distillery is housed in a former temperance hotel!

It’s a dry and zesty gin, and being from an island containing approximately 161 residents, there’s something especially unique about the product. It’s actually known to be ‘first legal spirit from an island rooted in centuries of illicit distilling’ too. Using small batches of pure grain spirit which are triple distilled for smoothness, the gin is created using the distillery’s unique Copper Berry Chamber, which was made in the 1920s. Tours are held in collaboration with Tennent's, so it's worth making a day of it to find out more about one of the best-loved names and the newest in the drink scene in Glasgow. The tour starts at the Tennent’s Visitor Centre at Wellpark Brewery, an iconic destination that is home to over 450 years of brewing tradition and expertise. The gin combines botanicals such as fresh apple, elderberry and wild clover, as well as juniper, coriander, orange peel, lemon peel and cassia. Try it neat with some ice and it’s wonderfully aromatic and smooth, or pair it with elderflower tonic and a mint sprig.

Simon worked as a consultant for Johnnie Walker and always knew he wanted to run his own distillery,” explains Chrissie. The Persie story began in 2013 when the couple, who then lived in Edinburgh, were looking for a change of lifestyle. If you're planning a trip to the Hebrides and Harris, it is well worth popping into the custom built distillery for a tour and spot of lunch. Nestled at the foot of the Pentland Hills on the edge of the capital, The Old Curiosity distillery is probably the most magical setting in which to learn more about gin. It embodies a sweeter, somewhat earthy profile, offering a smooth, slightly sugared experience that diverges from the classic gin sharpness.