Rock Rose Original Edition Gin (700 ml)

Founded in August 2014 by Claire and Martin Murray, Dunnet Bay Distillery sits above the white-sand arc of Dunnet Bay in Caithness — three miles from Dunnet Head, the most northerly point of mainland Britain. That sub-arctic coastal exposure sustains rare botanicals that no other distillery can source from their own doorstep, most critically Rhodiola rosea, an arctic root growing on the surrounding sea cliffs that Rock Rose is credited as the first gin producer in the world to deploy.

The distillery's 18-botanical recipe — arrived at after 55 trial recipes testing 80 botanicals — is built on a deliberate dual-juniper architecture: Italian juniper for warm pine depth, Bulgarian juniper for lemon-sherbet brightness. Five botanicals including rowan berries, sea buckthorn, and blaeberries are locally grown or hand-foraged in Caithness. Production runs through two bespoke 500-litre copper pot stills by John Dore & Co. using vapour infusion — botanicals suspended in a basket through which vaporised wheat-base spirit passes, preserving volatile floral aromatics that direct maceration would destroy. Cuts are made by nose by the master distiller.

The Rhodiola rosea root delivers an earthy, Turkish-delight quality that anchors the entire profile — no peer gin carries this botanical. Bottled at 41.5% ABV, hand-filled, wax-sealed, and batch-numbered. The citrus character is built entirely from verbena, Bulgarian juniper, and sea buckthorn — no citrus peel is used anywhere in the recipe.