Islay Cask Aged Gin (700 ml)

The Botanist is distilled at Bruichladdich Distillery on Islay's western shore, where the same Atlantic weather systems that define the island's whisky also shape its gin. The distillery's decision to forage 22 of its 31 botanicals directly from Islay's machair, peat bogs, and coastal headlands is not a marketing gesture — it is a deliberate argument that terroir applies to gin as much as to single malt.

The base gin is produced in Ugly Betty, a rare Lomond pot still with an unusually long, slow distillation cycle that preserves delicate floral and herbal volatiles. For this Islay Cask expression, the distillate is then rested in ex-Islay whisky casks, imparting a measurable layer of coastal oak, dried fruit, and faint phenolic smoke without overwhelming the botanical architecture. The result sits at 46% ABV, bottled without chill-filtration to retain texture.

What separates this expression from the standard Botanist is precisely that cask influence: the oak adds weight and a whisky-adjacent depth that no other major Islay gin currently offers in this format. Drink over a large ice sphere to let the cask character open slowly.