Tasting

To properly taste gin, pour it neat into a tulip glass at room temperature. Nose it first, then take a sip. A drop of still water afterward often unlocks aromas hidden within the pure alcohol, without watering down the flavour. It's worth pausing between the three samples, otherwise the first gin will drown out the subtler notes of the next. A neutral piece of bread between tastings cleanses the palate more reliably than a sip of water.

The Botanist from Islay shows itself as complex and herbaceous. Mint and wood sage arrive first, followed by floral heather and a faint almond sweetness from meadowsweet that unfolds only gradually. With each further sip, more of the 22 wild botanicals step forward, so the picture in the glass keeps shifting.

Isle of Harris Gin opens with citrus, orange peel and orris root leading the way. Behind that lies a subtle, almost salty undertone from the sugar kelp. Even seasoned gin drinkers don't see this note coming, since no other gin shows it in quite this form. Only on the second pass does it become clear the salty whisper comes from the sea, not the glass.

Caorunn from Balmenach in Speyside comes across rounder and fruitier. The Coul Blush apple lends sweetness, heather a honeyed, floral pull. Only at the finish does the rowan berry step in, with a fine, tart bitterness that keeps the finish dry. It's precisely this shift from sweetness to bitterness that makes Caorunn so approachable compared to the two island gins.