How is Gin Made - The Craft Behind the Spirit
Behind every bottle of gin lies a story. At Summerhall Distillery, it’s one of precision, patience, and a healthy respect for the craft. Making gin isn’t about shortcuts or quick wins — it’s about carefully layering flavour, trusting in process, and letting quality shine through. Here’s it's done.
1. It Starts with a Pure Spirit
Every good gin begins with a neutral grain spirit — high-proof, crystal clear, and clean on the palate. We’re talking around 96% alcohol at this point. Definitely not for sipping (unless you fancy going blind).
It’s the blank canvas upon which everything else is built. Ours is carefully sourced to ensure consistency and purity, because without a good base, you don’t have a good gin.
2. Juniper Takes Centre Stage
Legally, gin has to taste predominantly of juniper — and thank goodness, because we love the stuff. Fresh, piney, and full of character, juniper berries are what give gin its unmistakable backbone. Everything else in the bottle builds around them.
3. Bring the Botanicals
Here’s where the fun begins. Every distiller has their secret blend of botanicals, and ours is based on a delightfully warming Bombay recipe from 1947. Expect nine carefully balanced botanicals: citrus peels for zing, cardamom for spice, cloves for warmth, and fennel for a little something you can’t quite put your finger on.
It’s not about how many ingredients you can cram in — it’s about how well they sing together.
4. Into the Still They Go
We distil our gin using a “steep and boil” method, which is exactly what it sounds like. The botanicals are prepared by letting them soak in our botanical room, to help infuse a smoother flavour. Then we gently warm things up in our copper stills (which we named Gert and Emily, naturally), and the magic begins.
Alcohol vapour rises, carrying all those lovely botanical oils with it. What comes out the other end is clear, complex, and definitely gin.
We only keep the "heart" of the run — the smooth, flavourful middle. The "heads" and "tails" get the boot. Nobody wants gin that tastes like nail polish remover or stewed socks.
5. Add a Splash of Scottish Water
Once we’ve collected our precious gin distillate, we dilute it down to a drinkable strength — usually 42% ABV for our signature Pickering’s Gin. We use pure, crystal-clear triple filtered Scottish fallen water for this final part.
A fun fact that a lot of people don't know about Summerhall is that below lies a historic well which used to be a part of a water system at the Meadows. We actually use the water from this well in our condenser, it gets pumped up and around the system then goes straight back into the ground.
This means we aren't wasting thousands of litres of water just for the cooling process of the vapour coming out of the still. Also just to clarify, none of this water ends in the gin, it's just for the cooling process.
6. Bottle, Label, Sip, Repeat
After that, it’s all hands on deck. We fill, cap, and label every bottle ourselves.
Another fun fact for you, when we first set up the distillery there wasn't a labeller that worked with our unique bottle shape. So we built our very own labeller from scratch, which is a running theme for us.
Then it’s off into the world, ready to brighten up G&Ts, martinis, or whatever wild creation you’re mixing up at home.
Rooted in Edinburgh, Enjoyed Everywhere
Making gin might seem technical, and it is — but at Pickering’s, it’s also joyful. It’s about tradition, precision, and a little playful experimentation. And if you’re ever curious to see the process up close, you’re more than welcome to come say hello on a distillery tour. (We’ll even let you meet the stills.)
So next time you raise a glass of Pickering’s, remember: there’s a bit of Bombay history, a lot of Edinburgh heart, and a whole heap of flavour in every sip.
