As tasting experiences go, this one was kind of surreal: listening to a Scotsman tell me all about his gin.
Yet here I was, facing a knowledgeable and personable young man, Adam Hannett, born and raised on Islay, the Mecca of Scotch, with the brogue to prove it. And he wasn’t just some random island boy, but the head distiller at Bruichladdich, one of Scotland’s most famous makers of fine Scotch.
A Scotsman making gin, England’s national spirit – isn’t that like a Canadian trying his hand at bourbon instead of sticking to rye? The Scots, like Canadians, take pride in distinguishing themselves from their larger, louder neighbors.
Hannett chuckled at the thought. “Look, if you’re a Scotch drinker, you know about Bruichladdich. We recognize there’s a rising market for gin, and we think we have an excellent product that reflects who we are.”
Hannett is talking about The Botanist, a premium gin that has been popular on O.C. bar shelves for a few years; it’s definitely one of the go-to gins for mixologists these days. And it’s reflective of a trend among new gin-makers to get local by capturing the scents and flavors of their place of origin.
The Botanist began with an unlucky demise and a lucky find. Another Scottish distillery, Inverleven, shut down in 1991. Word got around in 2003 that it was slated for demolition. “We were able to get some interesting things: pipework, heat exchanger, a mash tun, three stills, old pumps,” Hannett said. “Some of it dated back to the early 19th century, but it was all perfectly serviceable.”
Bruichladdich also grabbed something called a Lomond still. Invented in 1955 by Alistair Cunningham of Hiram Walker, it has three perforated plates that can be cooled independently, allowing the distiller to create different kinds of whisky simultaneously.
“It’s quite an ugly thing,” Hannett said. “It looks like a huge (garbage can).”
At first, the Bruichladdich team didn’t know quite what to do with the eyesore. But Jim McEwan, Bruichladdich’s famous master distiller, came up with something ingenious.
“Jim started thinking it would be perfect for making gin. And Jim being Jim, while he was fixing it he was learning how to make gin and selecting his first botanicals.” McEwan designed a basket for the neck of the still, a place where all the vapors pass through. Placed in a sack and inserted into the basket, the botanicals gently impart their flavors in a gentle 17-hour process. “The smell is stunning,” Hannett said.
One of The Botanist’s special properties is its unique botanicals – the herbs, roots and flowers that are infused into the spirit and create its taste signature. “When we decided to create a gin, we went to two botanists who live on the island,” Hannett said. “We wanted to do something unique and exciting.”
Hannett and his colleagues envisioned a gin that captured Islay’s spirit. “When you walk on the beaches or in the hills of Islay, you get these amazing smells — heather and other plants.”
Besides juniper and the other botanicals used by makers of London dry gin, the local botanists supplied 22 ingredients that are unique to Islay. Following McEwan’s instructions, they are abundant enough to be hand-picked sustainably. As the gin’s popularity grows, Hannett and his co-workers are keeping a close eye on that. “Someone asked me, ’Well, how much gin can you make?’ We don’t know yet, actually. We have to harvest the local botanicals responsibly and find out.”
What are they using from Islay’s hallowed soil? “That’s a trade secret,” said Hannett, with a Mona Lisa smile.
Contact the writer: 714-796-7979 or phodgins@scng.com
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