While many know of Bruichladdich Distillery as the distiller of beloved Islay whisky brands such as Bruichladdich, Octomore and Port Charlotte, did you know that the prolific distillery team also produces their very own brand of Islay Dry Gin, called The Botanist?

The distillers at Bruichladdich Distillery were amongst the earliest figures to shine a spotlight on the impact of terroir ( pronounced “teh-wahr”) on the final distilled spirit. For the uninitated, terroir is a French concept popular in wine-making that refers to the idea that the environment’s impact on a crop’s growth, and how it affects the taste of the drink made from the crop.

Whisky? Wine? You may be wondering why thus far, there seem to be more focused on every other drink but the gin in question. Bear with me here, there is a point to it, I promise!

The scenic Bruichladdich distillery where The Botanist Gin is distilled alongside Bruichladdich whiskies. 

You see, Mark Reynier, who was previously the CEO at Bruichladdich, was originally a wine merchant before turning to whisky. Reynier was sure that the concept of  terroir is equally important to Scotch whisky as it applies to French wine. Under Reynier’s leadership, terroir became an integral part of Bruichladdich’s philosophy in whisky-making. For example, this influence manifested in the distillery’s commitment to only using 100% Scottish barley to make their whiskies, which they felt was ideal for whisky-making due to its lower nitrogen content, which created an optimum profile for whisky distillation.

| Read more: Our distillery deepdive on Bruichladdich Distillery

Given the distillery’s long obsession with maintaining a sense of provenance in their distilled spirits through the careful use of ingredients, it thus is no wonder that they applied the same approach when it came to creating their own gin.

The Botanist is touted by the distilling team at Bruichladdich as a Islay Dry Gin that represents the place where they come from. To make this gin, the team distils the base spirits with 22 hand-foraged local botanicals from Islay, reflecting a “connection to the land”, in the words of Head Distiller Adam Hannett. The distillery is so proud of the botanicals native to Islay, that the Latin names for each of the Islay botanicals are embossed in 3D letters on every bottle. That said, in addition to these 22 botanicals, there’s also another 9 botanicals included that are not from Islay.

Spot The Botanist gin cameo in Season 1 of Succession!

The list includes angelica root, birch leaves, bog myrtle leaves, cassia bark, chamomile, cinnamon bark, coriander seed, creeping thistle flowers, elder flowers, gorse flowers, heather flowers, hawthorn flowers, juniper berries, lardy’s bedstraw flowers, lemon balm, lemon peel, liquorice root, meadowsweet, mint (apple), mugwort leaves, orange peel, orris root, peppermint leaves, red clover flowers, tansy, thyme leaves, water mint leaves, white clover and wood sage leaves.

It’s an eye-watering amount of botanicals, and of course, this naturally begs the question: how do these Islay botanicals manifest in the final gin spirit? Let’s find out.

The Botanist Gin - Tasting Notes

Aroma: Opens bright with notes of piney Juniper and lemon citrus zest, underscored by some subtle vanillic creaminess. There’s also a mild heat with cracklings of coriander and white pepper.

Taste: This gin greets the tongue with a satin-y, mellow texture. There’s a green note of juniper and thyme, accompanied with the sweetness of citrus, hawthorn and a floral accent of camomile. All this is punctuated by a undertone of mild spiciness, with notes of crushed coriander seeds. 

Finish: Medium. Notes of bitter lemon peels, juniper, cinnamon and licorice.

Overall Thoughts

The texture on this gin was really enjoyable, with a delicate silkiness that made it easy for sipping. Despite the long list of botanicals however, this gin retained quite a classic London Dry profile, albeit with slightly more floral flavors and herbaceous undertones.

It’s a very elegant gin that can be sipped, generating quite a bit of flavor complexity so as to not get drowned out in a tonic or cocktail. The bottle feels quite luxurious as well, and I would file this under gins I would use when I’m in the mood to be a tad bit fancier with my martini!

With juniper and joy, 

@lotusroot518