Rock Rose Sloe Berries Gin (500 ml)

Claire and Martin Murray founded Dunnet Bay Distillers in 2014 after testing 55 trial recipes across 80 botanicals — a deliberate, almost obsessive calibration process that culminated in the world's first gin to incorporate Rhodiola rosea, an arctic root harvested from the sea cliffs directly surrounding the distillery. This sloe berry expression layers that earthy, Turkish-delight-anchored base with the dark, tart fruit of hand-foraged sloe berries, extending the distillery's philosophy of building flavour from Caithness itself rather than imported citrus peel.

The distillery sits above the two-mile white-sand arc of Dunnet Bay in Caithness — the UK's most northerly mainland distillery — exposed to a sub-arctic coastal microclimate that forces botanicals to develop concentrated, stress-driven compounds unavailable in milder climates. That same environment shapes the sloe berries' sharp acidity and deep pigment.

Production runs through vapour infusion in bespoke 500-litre copper pot stills ('Elizabeth' and 'Margaret', manufactured by John Dore & Co.), preserving volatile top-notes that direct maceration would destroy. Cuts are made entirely by nose. The dual-juniper architecture — Italian juniper for warm pine depth, Bulgarian for lemon-sherbet lift — remains intact beneath the sloe fruit layer. Bottled at 41.5% ABV, hand-filled, wax-sealed, and batch-numbered.

The special feature here is structural: where most sloe gins suppress juniper under sweetness, Rock Rose's vapour-infusion technique keeps the juniper spine audible even through the sloe fruit. No critic scores. Drink now; no aging required.