We recently started our own gin garden to make the process more sustainable and local to Fife than it has been before. Through this we hope to grow botanicals in our back yard, so to speak, that can replace the ones we have sourced from around the world in the past.
Of course, the climate and conditions mean we will never be able to use the exact same flower, or root, or peel. But, we are embarking on a journey to use local produce to arrive at the same destination: nature distilled gin.
Juniper has forever been the core ingredient in gin since it was brought over from The Netherlands but botanicals such as coriander, angelica root, elderflower and cinnamon are some hot favourites at Darnley's.
Our Darnley's Original is bursting with light, fruity elderflower, first foraged on the grounds of Wemyss Castle and the inspiration for our London Dry Gin. Darnley's Spiced, however, is more cinnamon based with hints of spice and crackle throughout.
Improving the recipes for our gins is always at the forefront of our minds. We want to make things easier for us but also for the environment around us and so will be striving to create that happy equilibrium wherever we can! Stay tuned for more exciting gin expressions: with love from seed to sip.
]]>This is really exciting for us as we are always looking at ways to reintroduce the environment to a sense of normality when it comes to all things nature. The bees have been helping us in our new Gin Garden where botanicals we use in distillation are growing.
We are determined to always look for ways to reduce our carbon footprint and have home grown botanicals, pollinated by resident honey bees, is another strong step in that direction.
This is a honeycomb fresh from the hive and ready to go into Mandy's spinner that she uses to extract the most honey without damaging the comb...
"I spin the honey out and give the combs back to the bees to refill. It takes them much more energy to build wax comb than to make honey." - Mandy
Honey flowing from the spinner into buckets - look at that golden goodness! It is then sieved and allowed to settle before going into jars. No heating or other treatment applied, this is our honey, pure, unaltered and simple.
We will keep you updated for when you can buy this delicious honey!
]]>For this tradition, and the explosion of gin in general, we have the Royal Navy to thank. If it wasn't for them trekking around the world - for better or for worse - then exotic and new botanicals would not have been found and infused to create our nation's favourite spirit.
Alcohol rations in the Royal Navy were abolished as late as 1970 but before this time they consisted of rum for the enlisted men, and gin for the officers from around the 16th Century.
The gin (and rum) were stored next to the gunpowder, in barrels, and so certain precautions had to be taken to make sure any spillages did not lead to a catastrophic disabling of firepower. As such, the navy came up with the idea of 'proofing' something. In this process, the gin was mixed with the gunpowder, if the gunpowder still lit then the gin was 100% proof, if it did not light then the gin wasn't strong enough to board the ship.
The magic number came to be in the region of 57% ABV. For this reason, you will find that Darnley's Navy Strength Spiced Gin is bottled at 57.1% ABV to add a punchy warmth to every sip. Head over to the shop to get a bottle of your very own gunpowder-proof gin!
Link to the Wemyss Family
The Wemyss Family has a deep tradition with the navy and ancestors of the current owners played an integral part in the First World War especially. As Admiral of the Fleet, Rosslyn Erskine Wemyss rose in the ranks from Midshipman to command vessels all across the world. He was elevated to the rank of First Sea Lord in 1917 and thus became an established member of the Royal Navy's history.
While serving, men under Sir Rosslyn Wemyss would have been given this ration of gin or rum and it had to be proofed. The links to Wemyss history and Darnley's Gin continue and provide inspiration for us to create expressions that align accordingly.
]]>Today is officially the start of summer as we celebrate the Summer Solstice! The northern hemisphere is tilted on its axis towards the sun as we are treated to the longest period of daylight in the year.
Whether you are out and about soaking up the sun or still in the office heralding in the warm evening to come, we hope you have had a good first half of the year! We have a whole other half to now enjoy, and with that, the whole of summer yet to explore. With the rest of June, July and August due to bring hot weather it is hard to find a more refreshing drink than the cocktail below.
Ingredients for one (though we would, of course, recommend having some mates over!):
Method:
Fill a cocktail shaker with ice. Add the gin, lime juice, simple syrup, and lychee juice and shake well. Strain into the sugar-rimmed martini glass. Garnish and enjoy!
Being the longest day of the year, with the most sunlight, surely means there is more time than ever to enjoy a Darnley's! Use this recipe as a mid week treat or save it up for one of the longest weekends of the year!
]]>Mandy's update:
"There are lots of bees in the hive as you can see, and they seem quite settled and organised. To give them a bit more room, I have put on another super (a box of empty frames) in which I hope they will gather honey. They have begun making honey already, but not ready to harvest for a while, I’d guess."
"This is a beautiful frame of sealed brood. The majority will hatch into female worker bees. The more raised cells around the edges of the frames are drone brood - male bees. You can see a few larvae at the lower edge of the main patch of brood.
The dark comb means that this frame has been in the hive for a few years. I have replaced three old combs with new foundation, which the bees will draw out and start using over the next week or two. They can build comb very quickly at this time of year. New frames will give them more space, and will hopefully help to discourage them from swarming.
This last image shows the pollen collected by the hive, the bees that appear very yellow have been covered in it. The red pollen in the leg sacks are assumed to be from horse chestnut trees!🌳"
Stay tuned for more updates!
It all started with juniper, or as the Dutch called it: genever. Known since the middle ages as a remedy for fever and other ailments, a drink with the oil of the juniper berry has probably been around for quite some time. It was Franciscus Sylvius de la Boe however, a Dutch doctor, who created a schnapps distilled with juniper berries and thus created the drink genever.
This drink was mass produced in the Netherlands and in the Thirty Years' War (1618-1648) Dutch soldiers would drink genever from a bottle on their belt, claiming there was courage to be found in its calming effects. The English soldiers, fighting with them, recognised this and thus coined the phrase 'Dutch courage'.
The English were so impressed by the spirit that it didn't take long for it to hop over the channel. In fact, by the early 18th century it is thought that half the households of London were producing their own genever, shortened to the now recognisable: gin.
With the help of levies against French produce meaning that home distilled spirits rose in popularity, the 'gin craze' era was ushered in. Often much more alcoholic than one would think palatable, and available through a neighbour or family member, gin took hold of the country. Hogarth's famous etching 'Gin Lane' sums up this time very well:
The government soon realised they had to step in and in the mid-18th Century a number of Gin Acts were introduced to restrict the distilling, selling and consumption of gin. By the turn of the 19th Century the 'gin craze' was under control and the drink began its journey to modern renown.
Exquisite Gin Palaces were built where you could go and enjoy a gin amid entertainment and luxury. Elsewhere, gin was used to mask the bitter taste of quinine - a popular cure and preventative for malaria - by mixing them together with tonic water... thus producing the world-adored Gin &Tonic! (learn more about Tonic here)
So, as much as a Gin & Tonic is a British colonial invention, the spirit itself comes from Holland and like many spirits, a connection to medicine.
Today, we in the midst of a new 'gin craze'. One that is controlled and regulated unlike the last, but one that is just as widespread and popular. Here at Darnley's we are driving forward the experimentation behind creating new editions such as our Coastal Haar expression. Maybe however, there is nothing to beat a G&T with our Darnley's Original - why not see for yourself?
]]>The Gin & Tonic, invented in India during the British Raj, has long been the classic way of consuming gin, every company does it. But this means that gins must set themselves apart from the herd and strive to be different. And many have turned to the garnish to signpost that difference.
If you have had Darnley's before then you know that we recommend having a lemon wheel with our classic G&T serve. This was not a shot in the dark, or random guess, but a calculated decision from a lengthy process. See the thing with a garnish is it can dramatically alter your drinking experience and enjoyment.
Think about eating something - before you can taste it, you can smell it. Therefore, it is vitally important that a garnish both complements our gin in terms of taste, but also gives your nose some warning of what is coming: one of the best G&Ts you've ever tasted of course...
For our Darnley's Original G&T, we came to the conclusion that a lemon wheel is best suited to provide the stage for this gin itself to perform. Lemon balm is one of the botanicals used to produce the Original gin so naturally a lemon garnish would compliment that foundation. We chose a wheel because this exposes the most surface area and juice to the drink allowing them to combine to a greater concentration. With more pulp exposure to the drink, you get a lemon scent on the nose, and a lemon twang as you sip.
Our Darnley's Spiced however, using ginger beer for the core serve rather than tonic, uses a wedge of orange. As a naturally tangy-er gin with cinnamon and ginger at the fore, this serve doesn't want anything to overpower or contradict that taste. Therefore, the orange wedge is perfect as it brings out the soft sweetness of the other botanicals in the serve, and the slice element means this is the perfect, lower concentration.
The Navy Strength and Tonic is similar in the way we also recommend a wedge but this time of pink grapefruit. Grapefruit has a natural bitter acidity to it so pairs marvellously with the slightly punchier Navy Strength gin. And, in a similar fashion, being a stronger version of the Spiced gin above, not having too much of the grapefruit juice in the drink is a benefit.
Other companies have tried to go a bit wild, and in Hendrick's case succeeded, by recommending cucumber slices as a garnish to complement their cucumber-y spirit. We also experimented with slightly more whacky garnishes like frozen grapes or toasted rosemary, but we arrived at our conclusions for a few reasons.
The main reason, of course, is that we truly believe these garnishes compliment our core serves better than any other. However, we also took into account consistency - not every bar will have frozen grapes or peppercorns or toasted rosemary - so we wanted to create a serve that is accessible everywhere and doable by everyone. This also adds to our other objective - sustainability. By using fruits that most, if not all bars will stock we can make sure we are not contributing to more food waste without sacrificing your enjoyment of the serve!
]]>Behind our Gin Cottage in the East Neuk of Fife we have recently welcomed a hive of bees from our local beekeeper-supreme, and part time tour guide here at the distillery, Mandy!
Mandy has owned and cared for bees for over 15 years and currently has four hives in her care, one of which we are lucky enough to have on site at our gin cottage in Fife. We are now proud owners of our very own polyhive. Polyhives, made from polystyrene, are becoming increasingly popular among beekeepers due to their durability, light weight, and ease of maintenance. Polyhives are also known for their insulation properties, which can help to regulate the temperature within the hive and protect the bees from extreme weather conditions and the blustery Scottish winds.
In the height of Summer we will have up to 10,000 buzzing friends pollinating our budding botanicals, which will help them to thrive.
Words from Mandy:
"Bees are hugely important to us. They are great pollinators and about one third of our food is dependant on pollinators. As Einstein said “If the bee disappeared off the face of the Earth, man would only have four years left to live.”. I want to raise awareness of just how important this species is to humans and our ecosystem."
It's currently too cold for our hive to explore, so in the meantime Mandy is feeding them a mixture of fondant (the kind you put on cakes) and sugar water to keep them going. If you're visiting us in the near future, keep your eyes peeled as it's only a matter of time before they're active! 🐝
]]>The word 'tonic' has for a long time (since the 16th century) been associated with medicine or at least having the property of restoring health. It is fitting then that the history of Tonic Water as we know it starts with its link to healing capabilities.
The bitter flavour of Tonic comes from quinine, from the bark of the cinchona tree, which breeched the world of medicine as a cure for malaria.
Malaria was rife across most parts of the world in the 17th century, but many of the first stories of quinine come from the Spanish and Portuguese expeditions to South America. As with most products in the drinks industry, the origin and first use are contested accounts though there are ones with more traction than others.
One story, as legend has it, is that a South American fell into a pool that had been contaminated by this bark and found shortly after that his fever had broken and he no longer had malaria. Another story, perhaps more colonial in nature, is that Countess Cinchona, a Spanish noblewoman, was given a mixture of plants and bark from the then 'Andean Tree' which broke her fever, thus giving the tree the name we use today - Cinchona.
Take whichever story you wish but what we know for sure is the bark originated in South America and quickly made its way around the world as a popular, and effective, cure for malaria.
As for the Tonic, this origination lies with the British Army when they were in India in the mid nineteenth century. Given quinine as a malaria cure but also as a preventative, the army began to mix it with soda water and sugar to lessen the natural bitter taste. It is for this reason we normally call it Indian Tonic Water.
This drink has not stopped evolving since and today you can find all kinds of flavoured, diet or differently carbonated Tonic waters. Perhaps the most relevant to this story is the nouveau brand 'Fever Tree' which takes its name from the anti-malarial properties of the cinchona bark.
Gin and Tonics have been loved by many and are still widely enjoyed to this very day - especially with Darnley's...
Explore the perfect way to create a Darnley's Gin and Tonic here!
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25ml Lemon juice
12.5ml Sugar syrup
50ml Fever Tree Rhubarb and Raspberry Tonic
Strawberries to garnish
Add ingredients to a glass and gently stir. Garnish with strawberry love hearts for the perfect Valentine's Day twist.
Whether you're celebrating Valentine's Day or Galentine's Day we hope you enjoy your day!
]]>As you can see below, the Darnley's Team have been working hard to spread the joy of Hot Gin Punch far and wide across Scotland this festive season. Whether you reside in the East or the West, we've made it easy for you to locate your nearest venue to enjoy a warm tipple while you're out shopping, meeting up with friends or visiting the Christmas markets.
Don't forget to tag us is any pictures of you enjoying a Hot Gin Punch when you're out and about, using the hashtag #HotGinPunch so that we can see them.
Happy sipping!
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For our latest limited edition release, we enlisted the help of Jayson Byles, a local forager here in the East Neuk of Fife. We were lucky enough to use Jayson's sugar kelp harvest from Kingsbarns beach (5 minutes from our gin cottage) to infuse our latest limited edition, Coastal Haar.
Limiting our botanical mileage is a of utmost importance to us and therefore the locality of our ingredients is a priority. We spoke with Jayson to understand what foraging means to him and to learn more about his business in educating the public on the importance of sustainable foraging.
Growing up in Rural New Zealand we always foraged it was a part of my day. We ate very seasonally and spent a lot of time outdoors, there was always something growing in a hedgerow.
Foraging is an ancient art that never really went away and was our first way to source nutrition before the dawn of agriculture, it ignites something primal and electric within the body and soul - it just feels right to be intimately connected to the land and have autonomy in how we nourish ourselves, and get to know where you live in a much deeper more connected way.
Ever since I can remember, the first foraging story told by my Mum is when I hid under the hedge at 2 yrs old and ate gooseberries until I fell asleep! Since then I still can’t resist a ripe gooseberry.
I have a 52 page booklet that I give to all attendees on my workshops that goes into full detail about foraging sustainably and safely but if I was to sum it up in one sentence then I would say - Treat all of the outdoors as you would your mother, with gentle kindness, respect and mindfulness, it’s your future you are caring for too !
Sea Belt, Oar weed and Royal Kombu are just some of the many names given to Sugar kelp or Saccharina latissima. A brown kelp found in the deeper parts of the intertidal growing up to 4 metres in length and living for upto 4 years, it has very distinctive frilly edges and a textured blade and can range in colour from golden to dark brown. Sugarkelp attaches to rocks with a holdfast but prefers to lay its fronds in sand. Prized for its high levels of naturally occurring mannitol it is great to add a touch of sweetness with an umami kick, younger plants are great toasted as a crisp.
I love the wildness of the North sea coupled with the amazing richness of history in the area. There have been so many eras and I think we are entering one in which we relearn how to steward the environment so that nature can regenerate after all it’s given to us. There are so many corners and interesting sights in this part of Fife that I am always learning.
One cold and dark February morning four years ago I stood up to my ankles in the north sea picking seaweed and watching a storm slowly make its way up the Forth, I felt so alive and invigorated and it felt like a real gift that stayed with me.
Whenever I was down on the coast picking seaweed I would get chatting to someone passing by and they would start sharing their stories of seaweed and ask questions. It really showed me how much hunger there was to relearn what was forgotten but is still literally within arms reach of so many of us! Sharing the gift of aliveness and sustenance is truly the gift that keeps on giving and I feel really confident that everyone who leaves my workshops will go away with the commitment to sustainably and thoughtfully interact with the oceans around us.
They always involve getting a bit wet, be warned! We explore the intertidal zone, nibbling some raw seaweeds as we go, then we share a seasonal tailored meal together on the beach. The workshops are always different as the environment, tides and weather are never the same two days running. It keeps me on my toes.
To find out more people can go to my website www.eastneukseaweed.com or find me on social media @eastneukseaweed
Empowering people with the knowledge to understand just how accessible the ocean is with the right skills and approach. Arriving at a blustery beach on a weekend morning and realising there is nowhere I would rather be.
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Introducing the latest installment to our Cottage Series, Coastal Haar.
The nine botanicals at the heart of this London Dry Gin are a mixture of locally grown and foraged botanicals from along the East Coast of Scotland to develop a gin that is a rare expression of the heart and soul of the coastline of our beloved East Neuk of Fife. Sea buckthorn, sugar kelp and marigold petals makes this gin reminiscent of a soft sea breeze, with salty pine upfront followed by tropical mango and pineapple notes to create a light, balanced gin. Serve with premium tonic water and an orange wedge garnish.
“Here in the East Neuk of Fife, our Summers can be unpredictable. One minute you can be relishing in the beauty of the coastline while sipping on a G&T, when suddenly you can see the haar rolling in with a strong breeze. Haar, is a cold fog that accumulates over the sea here in the East of Scotland between April and September. This type of weather is a full sensory experience, with notes of sea salt and fresh sea prominent in the air.
I tried to capture the feeling of a summers day by creating a gin using local sea buckthorn which has subtle tropical fruit notes supported by our cottage garden grown lemon balm and marigold petals.
For me, the best part about creating this expression was working with Jayson Byles at East Neuk Seaweed. Jayson sustainably forages sugar kelp from the Fife coastline with the purpose of using it for wild cooking. We were lucky enough to use his harvest to infuse our gin using a vapour basket, creating that salty breeze we described earlier."
We hope you enjoy a taste of Summer in the East Neuk of Fife, let us know what you think!
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1. Preheat the oven to 180C (160C fan)
2. Grease and line a loaf tin with butter and parchment cases
3. Beat the butter and sugar in a large bowl until light and fluffy
4. Add the eggs one at a time and beat in each time
5. Fold in the flour gradually and add the baking powder, lemon zest and Darnley’s Original Gin
6. Spoon into loaf tin and bake for 55-60min, or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.
7. Gently heat the sugar, tonic, gin and elderflower cordial in a small pan. Stir often until you get a syrup like texture
8. When the load is ready remove from oven and poke several holes in it with a skewer and drizzle over the syrup making sure to keep some aside.
9. Add the remaining sugar syrup to a pan, add the lemon slices, and gently simmer for 10 minutes
10. Add the lemon slices to the top of your loaf and leave to cool before serving.
Since we moved our production into our Gin Cottage at Kingsbarns Distillery we’ve been proud to release an annual addition to our Cottage Series of gins that is inspired by and showcases the variety of botanicals growing in the East Neuk of Fife. Over the last year or so I’ve been able to ramp my local botanical knowledge up by working with our forager, Leanne Townsend. She’s shown me through walks of our local area just how diverse a selection we have here on our doorstep, so much so that when out walking with the family I keep getting excited by spotting something she’s shown me previously!
Foraging does have its limitations though, especially when doing it for commercial purposes, as you need to stick to guidelines and laws. We must always have the landowner’s permission and, more importantly, do this in a sustainable manner.
Our journey started with our Original Gin, which showcases the beauty of elderflower which grows in abundance all around our distillery and all across fife, hence it being our inspiration for Darnley's Gin. If we were, however, to go out every summer and pick these elder trees clean of their flowers, then come winter time they wouldn’t produce any elderberries.
Elderberries aren’t only an amazing botanical which I used in our first Cottage Series gin, but they are a vital part of our local wildlife’s food chain. If we stripped all the flowers we would deprive our local ecosystems. This is why our work with Leanne is paramount, ensuring we’re reducing our botanical miles without negatively impacting our local environment.
Our first step on our drive to reduce our carbon emissions was to review our packaging, beginning with extending the life of our existing glass bottles. To help combat single use glass, which involves vast amounts of energy to produce, we’ve launched a range of refill pouches across our core gin series. We fill these ultra-light pouches by hand at the gin cottage, which are substantially lighter to transport than our glass bottles, using less energy to shipped to you. Plus they’re fully recyclable – simply post them back to us to be recycled by our partner. It couldn’t be easier to refill your favourite gin to enjoy again and again!
Alternatively, you can bring your old bottles back us for recycling and we’ll give you a discount on your next purchase. We then take these bottles and turn them into candles with our friends at Tipsy House, using recycled cotton wicks and environmentally friendly soya wax. And this isn’t just for your Darnley’s bottles, we’ll also take back bottles from our sister brands Kingsbarns Distillery and Wemyss Malts.
We also offer a recycling scheme to offer out 70cl glass bottles a second life by transforming them into candles. The candles contain eco-soy wax making them not only environmentally friendly but vegan friendly too. In addition, all the candles are poured by hand meaning this is genuinely ‘hand-crafted’. Check out our candles and how you could be rewarded for your efforts to recycle.
We’re working hard at the Gin Cottage to find new ways to reduce our botanical miles, growing, foraging and sourcing as many of our botanicals as possible right from Fife. If you’ve visited our distillery recently you might have noticed some big changes happening right outside our cottage, but you’ll have to wait a little longer before we share exactly what we’re up to…
We’re incredibly proud of where we are, but we know there’s still so much more to do. Thank you for joining us on this journey, and if you have any suggestions for us, please do reach out!
Written by Scott Gowans, Darnley's Gin distiller
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Gin is made from a neutral base spirit, usually made from grain, such as wheat or barley, which is first fermented and then distilled. This starting spirit is incredibly high strength with as little flavour as possible.
Then comes the expertise of our expert distiller, Scott Gowans. To be called a gin, our recipe needs to be made from a base of juniper berries. We then add other herbs, plants, fruits, and spices - known as botanicals - to our neutral grain spirit along with water until the alcohol level and balance of flavours meets our desired mixture
At Darnley's we're making our gins in the London Dry style, which doesn't actually mean it's made in London! To be London Dry, all our botanicals must be added during the distillation process, and they must all be natural. Then we only add water to dilute the alcohol level - no extra flavours or sweetness added!
We are at the start of a sustainability journey here at Darnley’s Gin, making small but important steps as we focus on it as our key objective. Those of you who are avid Darnley’s followers will have spotted the introduction of our recyclable gin pouches in January as refills to save on both transport and production emissions. Now we are looking at what we can do to further reduce single use glass.
We have therefore partnered with sustainability company The Tipsy House, based in Aberdeen, to recycle our 70cl glass bottles into candles. The Tipsy house do this across different categories, including rum, vodka and champagne as well as gin. Not only does this avoid single use glass, but the candles themselves contain eco-soy wax making them not only environmentally friendly but vegan friendly too. In addition, all the candles are poured by hand meaning this is genuinely ‘hand-crafted’.
We are now looking at whether we can include them in a gift pack, which would make make ideal present for Mother’s Day. We’d love to know what you think; please let us know via our social media channels @darnleysgin.
To help drive the recycling of our bottles, and help us produce more candles, we are incentivising those with empty bottles to bring them back to the our distillery in Fife in exchange for a money-off voucher, or bring four empty bottles back to exchange for a free gin tour. We are keen, however, to stress that we promote responsible drinking.
We’d love to be able to turn our bottles into other usable items to help drive down single use even further, such as lamps. Please do let us know if you have any ideas of what you’d like to see, and indeed craftsmen who can help us turn this ambition into a reality.
]]>Our new Aromata limited edition gin has a few origins and influences that inspired me to create this gin. It all starts with Darnley’s Spiced Gin, which was released over 8 years ago and was the first spiced gin on the market. I fell in love with this creation on first taste and I normally wasn’t a fan of cinnamon, but it’s all about balance. If you’ve ever cooked with cloves you’ll know one too many and it will dominate your dish. So obviously we like to experiment and expand on that as the array of home grown and foreign herbs and spices have so many different flavours to offer.
Over the years of working here at Darnley’s Gin, tour guide after tour guide kept asking me when to do I planned to do an aniseed and liquorice gin. To be honest I despise liquorice, always have and always will - it’s just not a flavour I enjoy. But I thought I’d give it a go. Unfortunately I had a cold (pre-covid) that week so my palate was way off and although some tour guides loved it to me it more resembled Sambuca than a gin. So the challenge was how to make a well-balanced gin that the majority of people can enjoy but still excite the palate.
The Inspiration
My wife and I spent our honeymoon in South East Asia where we fell in love with the culture and especially the cuisine. We are both keen home cooks and really enjoyed going on food market tours in Hoi An where we finished with a Vietnamese cooking school. Walking around street vendors and trying new and exciting cuisines was one of the highlights of this trip, we even tried fried crickets, but I’m not ready to use those in a gin…. These travels inspired me to start growing lemongrass at home and in our gin cottage and really extended my spice rack at home. The way Asian cuisine can balance different notes surprised me as I began to love using aniseed botanicals like star anise and fennel seeds. I was shocked myself that if it is well balanced I actually really like aniseed just not liquorice allsorts!!
The final creation
I really wanted to start with lemongrass as the main character giving big spicy lemon notes backed up with a touch of ginger. Green peppercorns were used to add subtle pepper notes that would be more aromatic than spicy. Then I layered this with sweet and earthy notes of turmeric and galangal with a slight sweet woody notes from birch bark. You can see birch trees all around the distillery, but it’s not the only local botanical used. I wanted to finish with well-balanced aniseed notes from our cottage garden fennel plant, with a touch of star anise.
With so many inspirations and influences from the company history, colleagues and fond personal memories it’s been a great joy to create and I look forward to seeing what you think!
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This week we caught up with Senior Brand Manager, Hannah Alexander, to find out more about her journey into the role she plays at Darnley's Gin. Hannah is the Senior Brand Manager for Wemyss Family Spirits. She started at Wemyss back in 2018 as an Assistant Brand Manager for Kingsbarns Distillery and has progressed through the years to now over see all three brands: Kingsbarns, Wemyss Malts and Darnley's Gin.
[Hannah Alexander] As soon as I started I absolutely loved it. Working in spirits is what I wanted to do, so when I got the job I was over the moon. I worked hard with the brand director at the time who mentored and nurtured me into a brand manager role. From there, I kept working and getting involved in every aspect of the business and then I was given the incredible opportunity to become senior brand manager and work across the entire portfolio of brands.
Honestly, I think it’s just pure passion! I love what I do. I know most people say this but every day is different in my role, and it really keeps the excitement and energy alive. Being a brand manager is being a guardian of the brand. You’re at the helm of so many aspects of marketing; new product development, packaging, creative, PR, strategy and so much more. I also have so much love for the industry that I’m in. The Scottish spirits world is exciting and filled with people who are so passionate about their craft, is incredible to be involved.
The brand has evolved so much over the last decade! Thinking back, it was originally called Darnley’s View, inspired by the tale of Queen Mary of Scots looking through the courtyard window at Wemyss Castle to the ‘view’ of Lord Darnley, her future husband. Since the major rebrand to Darnley’s Gin, it’s gone from strength to strength. It’s now in a beautiful position with our ‘nature distilled’ ethos and strapline and all I can say is stay tuned because we have some amazing things planned in! It’s also been incredibly insightful and fun to have our bespoke Darnley’s Gin Experience in Castle St. where guests can blend their very own gin, taste our gin range, or sit for a perfect serve G&T.
Darnley’s Gin is small-batch gin made using only natural ingredients; the best botanicals, the freshest Scottish water and pure spirit! What we can’t grow, we forage and what we can’t forage we source from sustainable suppliers.
We believe that by respecting the ingredients gifted to us by nature, and not using colours, sweeteners or artificial flavourings, we can create gin that brings a nuanced and authentic taste to your glass. Our gin still is also in a delightful cottage on the grounds of Kingsbarns Distillery, which is pretty unique! Distilling in Fife is the perfect way to fulfil our dreams of returning to the place where the Wemyss family have worked and lived for centuries. At our cottage we have a lovely little garden where we grow as many botanicals as the Scottish weather allows but more exotic ingredients, like cinnamon and grains of paradise, need warmer climates so are sourced from growers around the world that we’ve come to know and trust. We continue to grow, forage and source in our endless botanical exploration.
As a brand, and company, we try to do what’s right for the brand rather than what everyone else is doing in the industry. It needs to have purpose and make sense, and have a greater intention. We’re at a point in the world now where we can’t ignore the climate crisis and I feel that every company should be doing their part to help. Of course, it’s one of our main focuses and again comes back to our ethos of ‘nature distilled’ where we grow or forage as many of our botanicals as possible, along with other ethical and sustainable pursuits we’re embarking upon.
I truly love all of our gins, but my all-time favourite release so far is Smoke & Zest which was our Cottage Series #2. The reason being it’s the most unique gin I’ve ever seen and tasted, and for me, it really cut through the industry. Although, I must admit, our new Cottage Series #3 Wild Citrus is one of the most delicious G&Ts I’ve ever had!
That is such a good question! Do I have to only pick one person? I’d love to sit down with Melinda Gates, her philanthropy work is inspiring and I’d love to talk to her for even 5 minutes. As a marketer, one of my most favourite brands is Apple, which you may say is typical, but they are the leaders in innovation, design and marketing in my eyes. There’s no denying that Steve Jobs and his work was game-changing so for me it would be incredible to sit with him for a conversation. Okay last one, but I have to mention the great Shania Twain. I’m a HUGE Shania fan so that would be an incredible drinking buddy and singalong partner. Could you imagine the stories? Although I suspect that a gin would quickly turn into a bourbon!
To keep up to date with Hannah and her role at Darnley's Gin, you can follow her on Instagram and LinkedIn.
HANNAH ALEXANDER
INTERVIEWED BY KRISTEN MCGHIE
]]>London Dry
London Dry is currently the most popular style of gin on the market, with the majority of big name brands offering the 'London Dry style'. Here at Darnley's we have also opted for this style as we feel it aligns with our brand.
The method of distillation means that our gin distiller, Scott Gowans, adds all of our locally foraged and responsibly sourced botanicals in to the pot still to infuse the spirit. Following the distillation process we do not add or enhance the final spirit with any flavourings or colourings, making Darnley's Gin as natural as possible. This is something as a brand that we are very passionate about as we pride ourselves on our sustainable practices and our brand ethos 'Nature distilled'.
Old Tom
If you've ever heard of the Genever, a Holland native spirit also referred to as 'Dutch gin'(although it doesn't technically have the characteristics to be classed as gin). Old Tom can be described as the middle ground spirit between Genever and London Dry. The Old Tom gin style is lighter and less malty than Genever while it does not compete with the spicy notes of a London Dry gin style. It is a sweeter, less-botanical version of most gins found on the market today and can be a great way to begin drinking the divisive spirit. Due to prohibition, Old Tom gin was left behind while London Dry Gin triumphed ahead. The Old Tom style is back by popular demand however, as a special ingredient in cocktail serves.
Plymouth
Plymouth style of gin is said to be relatively close to that of London Dry Gin- style however there are a few differences in the taste profile. This style is described as "earthy", dry and displaying more citrus flavours.
Plymouth gin uses signature botanicals including juniper berries, sweet angelica root, lemon peel, cardamom pods, sweet orange peel, coriander seeds, and orris root. These ingredients are added to a wheat base which is often described as 'buttery'.
Navy Strength
Navy Strength has a higher alcohol percentage (at least 57% ABV). This style dates back to the 18th century when the British Navy stored their gin next to the gunpower on their ships. In the case of an accidental spillage of gin that would potentially mix with the neighbouring gun powder, the alcohol was required to be Navy Strength to ensure the powder would still able be able to explode.
Our Navy Strength edition of our award-winning Spiced Gin was inspired by the illustrious Royal Navy career of our ancestor Sir Rosslyn Wemyss, who commanded ships around the world and rose to the rank of Admiral of the Fleet. During his time at sea, ships’ officers still enjoyed a daily ration of gin which had to pass a gunpowder test to prove it was over 57% alcohol and therefore Navy Strength.
The start of 2022 sees a greater emphasis by us at Darnley’s Gin on playing our small role to do what we can to help the environment by becoming a more sustainable brand. This was brought into sharp focus in November last year with COP26 being held not far from our distillery in the city of Glasgow. Each step we know is a baby but important one nonetheless, in a long-term sustainable journey. Everyone needs to play their role. Our recyclable gin pouches allows existing Darnley’s Gin fans to re-fill their bottles without creating additional emissions through the transportation of heavier bottles.
The gin pouch itself weighs about 50% of one of our 70cl bottles and contains the same amount of gin. The manufacturing process for Darnley’s bottles requires extremely high temperatures (minimum of 1000 degrees centigrade) to heat the furnace, and by replacing a quantity of these with recyclable pouches we can save on further emissions.
They are super easy to use – simply unscrew the cap and pour into a Darnley’s bottle. Once emptied, pop the cap back on the pouch to ensure no leaking gin, and send back via Freepost to Darnley’s HQ for us to recycle. Additionally, we have also now seen travellers on weekend breaks to Scotland buying these gin pouches rather than bottles to avoid arriving home to a broken gin bottle in one’s luggage!
As the year progresses, Darnley’s will be announcing more small carbon saving initiatives as we strive to become more environmentally responsible. We have a number of ideas bubbling away & will keep everyone updated on these our via Darnley’s Discovery Club. Please do join us if you haven’t already and sign up via our website.
Meanwhile, we’d love to know what you think of our pouches: we know they won’t change the world, but little-by-little we can play our role in making it a more sustainable place to live.
Shop our recyclable gin pouches here.
All the best & Happy New Year.
William Wemyss, Founder.
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Under the guidance of our gin school team, you will learn about the art of distillation and what it takes to create a great tasting gin.
To create your bespoke gin recipe, explore our botanical collection some of which are grown in our own cottage garden, and consult your gin school guide and flavour wheel to ensure you get the balance of flavours just right.
The hands-on experience continues as our team take you through the steps of distilling and you begin to make your one-of-a-kind gin on your own copper mini still.
Enjoy a tour of Darnley’s Distillery whilst sipping on a few refreshing G&T’s and a tasting of the Darnley’s Gin range.
At the end of the experience, you will fill, label and name your unique creation to take home and enjoy in a branded Darnley’s gift bag
Order more of your bespoke gin - We keep your recipe on file so you can place an order for more of your bespoke gin. Our distillery team can advise on pricing.
Scott has been part of the team since the opening of our distillery in the East Neuk of Fife. Here he forages, distils and collects Darnley's Gin, ready to be enjoyed by our lovely customers. Scott's main role is producing and developing all the Darnleys gin, although he does help within the whisky distillery and Visitor Centre when required.
How did you become the distiller at Darnley's Gin?
I started my career in the drinks industry by getting a degree in Brewing and Distilling at Heriot Watt University. From there I had three options Brewing, distilling and Malting and initially I went for brewing as I loved the quicker and creative side to it. This later saw me running a brewery which also grew in to being a distillery, it was here I really got to grips with gin and enjoyed the creative side of it. From there I solely wanted to be able to focus on creating and producing gins and that led me to here.
What inspired you to pursue that path?
I have always been a creative person be it in art classes or just crafting at home. When I started my degree my dad brought out his old country wine recipe book which really pushed me into foraging and creating interesting wines. This was a really big inspiration for me when moving in to the gin industry and looking at what grows around the distillery. The first gin I created here, 'Very Berry' used the same elder tree to forage for elderberries that my dad and I used to create one of my first wines.
What do you think has sparked the popularity in gin in the last five years?
There is obviously the local factor with more small distilleries crafting new local gins, this can be seen across a lot of food and drink industries. The real factor I believe is the creating of more diverse flavours and the use of local botanicals that really excites the consumer.
Do you think gin will become as collectable as whisky in years to come?
There are certainly some people who collect gin, it was only the other day that I was asked to sign some bottles of our Cottage series, but on the whole I think consumers like collecting whiskies for the rarity. So unless these are very small gin runs or very select cuts of a distillation run, then I can’t see it becoming as collectable as whisky.
Where do you see trends in the gin industry heading in the future?
Over the last few years the gin category has been filled with a lot of very sweet and sugary gins, and has encapsulated a lot of the Alcopop drinkers. From what I've seen is more and more people moving away from this and wanting to drink more London dry gin for example, really embracing Juniper rather than sugar.
What is your all-time favourite release and why?
That’s a difficult one as I like all the gins we’ve released, but at the moment its wild citrus. It really encapsulates the spring/ summer time feel of the east neuk of fife, its also so bold in flavour that I’ve been enjoying it served just over ice, but does make an amazingly refreshing G&T served with a sprig of Mint.
If you were able to share a gin with anybody, living or in history, who would it be?
I would like to say my grandmothers that passed when I was young, but both of them didn’t drink. So my standard answer is Eddie Vedder, being a huge Pearl Jam I have always respected him for not only for his music, but how he has fought and raised awareness for many different social injustices over the years.
]]>This method of distilling didn’t come about until the 1800’s, despite gins existence for many years prior to this. This was largely due to the invention of the patent still (also known as a ‘Coffey still’). In the early production days, gin was made using pot distillation to create the spirit and then subsequently gin. Unfortunately, some of these resultant spirits were not very palatable because the base spirit was not highly rectified, and would have had to be drank with a “spoon full of sugar”.
Our distilling ingredients consist of grain neutral spirit (a highly concentrated, clear, pure, unscented alcohol) and natural plant-based botanicals. Unlike other gins, by choosing to create a London Dry style gin means that we are restricted in what we can add to spirit at the end of the distillation process. We can only add grain neutral spirit or water to bring the spirit down to bottling strength. However, our competitors opting to use others methods are free to add artificial colours, flavours, sugars, sweeteners etc. to enhance their final spirit. Here at Darnley’s we believe in the London dry method, not just because the Wemyss family history is rooted in the method, but also due to the quality we believe that a London dry is the purest form of gin; that’s why our motto is “nature distilled”.
The biggest impact was the creation of the patent still, which had the capacity to produce a highly rectified and very neutral flavoured spirit, similar to that of Vodka. Although many people had attempted to rework the original pot still, it really wasn’t until (in my eyes) Robert Stein of Fife came along. Although we largely think of Aeneas Coffey as the inventor of the patent still, it was in fact Stein who physically produced the first patent still and sold it to The Cameronbridge Grain Distillery in Fife. Interestingly enough, this distillery was built by John Haig on Wemyss' family-owned land. Now if you know anything about Darnley’s Gin then you will know that we’re owned and ran by the same Wemyss family that leased out this land to Haig, centuries before they had any part in the gin industry themselves.
Gin has become a very favourable spirit in the alcohol industry and thanks to the progression in distillation methods, a cleaner spirit can be pot distilled to produce gin. In fact, by law, gin must be made from grain neutral spirit produced from a still and must also contain, juniper as an ingredient during the distillation process, in order to be classified as gin. Personally I believe that if juniper isn’t a predominant flavour, it’s not gin!
To find out more about the gin making process, we host exciting Gin Tours and the opportunity to distil your very own gin at our Gin School Experience, led by myself and other members of the team at the distillery.
WRITTEN BY SCOTT GOWANS
]]>In autumnal Scotland, you can easily forage for blackberries, sloes, hazelnuts, damsons and elderberries. Scroll down to discover how to safely forage for these 5 foods.
Before You Begin:
Where do blackberries grow? Blackberries are abundant in Scotland and can be found on shrubs in sunny and sheltered conditions.
What does a ripe blackberry look like? Blackberries grow in groups, often ripening at different rates. A perfectly ripe blackberry will be dark purple in colour and plump to the touch. Another indication that the fruit is ready to be picked is when there is little resistance felt when plucking from the shrub.
What do I need to do to my blackberries before I eat them? Before consuming any wild fruit, it is best to wash the berries well in cold water and then steep them in a salt water bath to kill any bugs. Blackberries do not last very long once foraged, so consider freezing your supply to prevent waste.
What can I make with blackberries? Blackberry pie, blackberry crumble, blackberry sorbet, blackberry coulis.
Where do sloes grow? Sloe shrubs in Scotland can be found growing in lots of places! Hedgerows, woodlands, forests, but grow particularly well in meadows.
What does a ripe sloe look like? A ripe sloe is dark purple in colour and soft to the touch. If you are gathering sloes with the intention of making sloe gin, it is best to pick them after the first frost of the year as the temperature drop allows their skins to soften and their juices to be released. Freezing them at home will also give the same result.
What do I need to do to my sloes before I eat them? Raw sloes have an extremely harsh and bitter taste, leaving your mouth with an overwhelming dry feeling. We suggest using sloes for flavouring instead of a snack!
What can I make with sloes? Sloe gin, sloe vodka, sloe syrup.
Where do hazelnuts grow? In the UK, hazelnuts grow on hazel trees often found in the understories of lowland oak, ash or birch woodland, and in scrub and hedgerows.
What does a ready-to-eat hazelnut look like? Hazelnuts begin to ripen as hazel tree leaves change colour. When the papery outer layer of a hazelnut begins to peel off, this is a good indication that the nut is mature enough to eat.
What do I need to do to my hazelnuts before I eat them? The flavours of hazelnuts are amplified when roasted. By removing the water content from the nut, it adds extra crunch and a richer nut flavour. We recommend roasting for 15 minutes at 200 degrees Celsius for best results.
What can I make with hazelnuts? Eat roasted on their own or in a salad, hazelnut butter, hazelnut flour.
Where do damsons grow? In the UK, damsons are frequently found in hedgerows, parks, woodlands and gardens in September and October.
What does a ripe damson look like? Damsons are a member of the plum family, , so look like a small plum but are much smaller; they are a little bigger than a large grape. A ripe damson will be purple/black in colour.
What do I need to do to my damsons before I eat them? After a cold wash, a damson can be eaten raw; but they contain as much flesh as they do stone and so may be better used in cooking to release their complex flavours.
What can I make with damsons? Damson jam, damson gin or vodka, damson crumble.
Where do elderberries grow? Elderberries grow on elder trees in woodlands, hedgerows, scrub and wasteland.
What do ripe elderberries look like? Elderberries grow in large clusters, transitioning from green (unripe) to a dark purple colour (ripe).
What do I need to do to my elderberries before I eat them? Elderberries have a very short lifespan after being harvested and therefore should be cooked or frozen within 12 hours. They also require a cold water bath to remove any dirt or insects before use.
What can I make with elderberries? Elderberry gin, elderberry syrup, elderberry jam.
We hope you found our guide helpful, and please share your foraging finds with us on instagram at @DarnleysGin