Gin and bothy life from Glamis direct to your home

WHILE THE Gin Bothy at Glamis is sadly unable to host wedding receptions at present, how about a virtual gin tasting for your hen or stag do?

Hosted live from The Bothy Experience, your host will guide you through your own private event, explaining the story of The Gin Bothy and bothy life, as well as how to create four perfect services using gin from your own Bothy At Home box which is mailed out directly to each participant’s home.

The Gin Bothy sits just minutes from historic Glamis Castle in Angus and, in non-Covid times, The Gin Bothy Experience is where tradition and culture meets tasting and retail. Founded by Kim Cameron, the business aims to reconnect people with the past and take them on a journey through the land.

A bothy’s definition differs depending on which part of the country you’re in. It could be a safe haven for travellers in the Highlands, a refuge in the hills, or a home for farmer workers in the eastern lowlands of Scotland. Wherever you are, it’s a place to relax and tell stories.

That’s reflected in the traditional methods of production with every bottle numbered, batched and poured by hand. All the fruit-infused gins use Scottish ingredients such as berries and rhubarb. Botanicals, including pine needles and heather, are gathered outdoors. It all adds to The Gin Bothy’s mission to keep the history, heritage and culture of “bothying” alive.

Weddings at The Gin Bothy have been on hold but a virtual tasting for a hen or stag do is fun

Kim, who is also a bothy ballad singer, opened the business on the site of the former Angus Folk Museum in 2018 but she has been hand-bottling her artisan gin since 2014.

In a recent blog on The Gin Bothy website, Kim talks passionately about her gin and business – and why she does it. “I could say it’s the fresh, pure Scottish waters, or the love of foraging for botanicals in the stunning scenery, but for me it’s the people,” she says. “Something amazing happens between strangers when you talk about gin, something I’ve never experienced with any other spirit.

“Their eyes light up and the chat moves to ‘which gin are you drinking at the moment?’, which mixer works with what and ‘have you tried this one?’. As you chat you find out where they’ve travelled to, which bars or gin festivals they’ve been to, and before you know it you’ve made a gin friend, a camaraderie that I think is unique.

“I love seeing couples enjoying gin together – they often describe it as their ‘thing’ attending gin festivals and buying new gins to share together.”

Kim loves hearing people share their stories about gin. “It’s special for me,” she adds, “because as a small country we have amazing gin, from the islands to the Borders. Each producer, from families to commercial giants, create something unique with their own story to tell.

“For me, gin is like cooking and whatever you add brings out a flavour, so adding freshly picked gorse, heather and milk thistle, for example, is a culinary experience bringing Scotland’s legendary food and drink to a glass near you.”

If you want to book a virtual tasting for a hen or stage do, email bookings@bothyexperience.co.uk.

ginbothy.co.uk