Episode 31 - Ian Stirling from The Port Of Leith Distillery

Welcome To The Gin Ignite Podcast

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News

Welcome

• Hello and Welcome to Episode 31

Christmas

• The news is going to be short this week
• If you celebrate I hope you have a very merry Christmas and happy new year.
• I know 2020 has been difficult. Really hope that 2021 is going to be much better.
• Really look forward to joining you next year

Review

• Reviews really help the podcast in a given podcast directory. So if you did have a chance to review the podcast I would be most grateful

Weekly Gin Recommendation

• The Gower Gin Company Pinwydd Gin
• There are a few distilleries where I am a real fanboy. The Gower Gin Company is one of those distilleries.
• I have spoken about it before but Sian and Andrew are botanical wizards. The way they mix the botanicals together is sublime and each taste is like paradise on your palette.
• Each of their gins is very distinctive but so well balanced. Pinwydd is no exception.
• The nose of the gin has the subtle aroma of orange and pink peppercorns.
• Upon taking it neat you get a dryness initially, followed by a sweet taste which meanders into orange and cranberry hitting you palette finally tapering off with the peppercorns.
• I tried it with Fevertree Mediterranean Tonic and it made a very pleasant G&T with a really subtle orange and peppercorn taste.
• I think you could easily pair this with most tonics although I would avoid ones which are very strong in flavour.
• I would definitely like to try this in a dry martini and I can see this working really well with many type of cocktails such as Negroni.
• This really is a gorgeous gin and I would strongly recommend trying the six pack offered by The Gower Gin. This will hopefully give you an idea which one to pick or you could be like me and you don’t know which one to choose.
• This definitely deserves to be added to my list of gin wants and will hopefully appear on my gin shelf very soon.

Ian Stirling from The Port Of Leith Distillery

Initial Work

• Worked in wine trade for Majestic and then Robersons
• Got to travel but eventually decided that wanted to produce rather than distribute a product
• Decided that although knew wine wanted something that could produce from Scotland and so decided on Whiskey

Where did it start ?

• Shared flat with other co-owner Paddy
• Shared Whiskey between the two of them and went on tasting and then got a little still
• No single malt distillery in Edinburgh
• Having lunch with client from China and they agreed to fund setting up the distillery
• So far in the whiskey distillery they have poured the concrete for the ground floor.
• About 15 months away from completion of the distillery

Started big in the gin distillery

• For Whiskey distillery have to start big
• For gin can start small but started bigger than a lot producers
• Invest in a unit
• Use organic neutral grain spirit from Switzerland

Structured Approach

• Challenge to produce gin because much larger volumes than expected
• 5 days process
• On Monday charge the still and put in six of seven botanicals with the organic...