THE OLD CURIOSITY DISTILLERY
After purchasing a plot of derelict land in Edinburgh in 2012, herbologist Hamish Martin and his wife Liberty laid the foundations for a nursery of over 600 herb varieties. However, it was not until mixologist Steve Ross joined the group as a volunteer in 2016 that The Old Curiosity Distillery was born. Armed with Hamish’s knowledge and Steve’s experimental nature, the company launched officially in 2017 to offer an elaborate array of finely concocted gins encased in exquisitely decorated glass bottles. With these tipples boasting delicate notes of rose, lavender, chamomile and more, they’re sure to beloved by any gin connoisseur.
Secret Garden Gin Gift Box 3 x 40ml
(2620011)
£23.00
https://www.harveynichols.com/brand/the-old-curiosity-distillery/2620011-secret-garden-gin-gift-box-3-x-40ml/p3070342/
TASTING NOTES
Add tonic to the Secret Garden Gins produced at The Old Curiosity Distillery and watch a miracle of nature unfold. This exquisite Secret Garden Gin gift box contains three 40cl bottles, allowing you to sample each of these floral masterpieces:
1. Apothecary Rose Secret Garden Gin: Made from what is rumoured to be Europe’s largest crop of Apothecary rose, an ancient and medicinal flower that has been used for tinctures and tonics ever since it was brought back by knights from the Crusades. Almost sepia-coloured and romantically floral, this gin will transform before your very eyes as you add tonic, into a vibrant pink delight.
2. Lavender & Echinacea Secret Garden Gin: If ever a gin could cure what ails, it would be this one. The restorative qualities of lavender are combined with Echinacea, a cure-all remedy used by the Native Indians that is now thought to shorten the duration of the common cold and flu. Initially a faded Quink Ink blue, this heavily scented gin will transform as you add tonic, into an effervescent lilac colour.
3. Chamomile & Cornflower Secret Garden Gin: Made with medicinally versatile and inherently calming chamomile, plus the vivid blue cornflower used in Lady Grey tea. This aquatic blue gin with its bygone era aromatics will transform as you add tonic, into a sparkling periwinkle purple.
Husband and wife Hamish and Liberty Martin – a wine merchant with a diploma in Herbology and an ex-resource manager with a penchant for antiques – bought a derelict plot of land at the foot of the Pentland Hills on the outskirts of Edinburgh. Over several years they transformed that wasteland into The Secret Herb Garden, which is now home to over 600 herbs, a café, an educational space and a shop selling vintage furniture, fresh flowers, candles, honey and so much more. In 2016 they teamed up with London mixologist Steve Ross to create gins from nature’s bounty. The botanicals used, from the juniper and the angelica to the signature flowers, are hand-tended, handpicked, air-dried and lovingly infused.