Edinburgh-based Pickering’s has united the worlds of gin and whisky with the launch of a range of oak-aged gins matured in casks sourced from five Scotch whisky regions.
Distilled at Pickering’s Summerhall Distillery in Edinburgh – the first specialist gin distillery to open in the Scottish capital in over 150 years – the gins were matured in casks sourced from Islay, Speyside, the Lowlands, Islands and the Highlands.
Each cask, sourced and brought back to Edinburgh by Pickering’s founders Marcus Pickering and Matt Gammell, yields 200 bottles of gin at 47% abv.
Each of the five expressions spends between three and six months in oak, creating a gin which Pickering’s says can be drunk like a whisky – using water or ice – or in cocktails.
The flavour profile, the company adds, ‘ranges from the light and citric aromas of Speyside to the sweeter, peatier notes of Islay’.
‘As distillers we wanted to take people on a journey exploring both gin and whisky, and to truly test the versatility of Pickering’s Gin,’ said Gammell. ‘With gin, there’s endless pleasure to be had experimenting with new flavours, serves and cocktails.’
Whisky writer Charlie MacLean said of the range: ‘All five expressions retain the fragrance, taste and product identity of gin, but finish on the palate like a whisky thanks to the subtle extra dimension left behind by the cask aging.’
The five gins are priced at £36 for a 35cl bottle, available from Pickering’s website and direct from the distillery.
Gin meets whisky: Pickering's new range unites the two worlds
