Highland distiller, Arbikie, is launching its second gin later this month called AK’s Gin – named after Alexander Kirkwood Stirling, the father of Arbikie owners Iain, John and David.
Following Arbikie’s ‘Field to bottle’ ethos, AK’s Gin is distilled using honey and Viscount wheat farmed at Arbikie along with black pepper, mace and cardamom.
The Viscount variety of wheat used in AK’s is sourced from the Deils Knapp field, which you can see from the distillery. Arbikie also plans to install its own hives to produce the required honey as well as pollinating the surrounding land.
Distillery Manager, Christian Perez, said, “We chose our Viscount variety of wheat because it gave us a beautiful, buttery character.
“Coupled with our fresh honey, AK’s Gin is incredibly smooth lending itself to a great gin and tonic and an amazing base spirit for cocktails.”
Director John Stirling said,“Our Dad is an inspiration to us and we wanted to create a gin that reflected his character and our family’s farming roots.
“He’s farmed all his life and is proud that we are distilling using our family’s own crops and is keen that we share that unique provenance with our Arbikie customers on-going.”
In 2014, Arbikie created its Scottish Potato Vodka, then launched Kirsty’s Gin using locally-foraged botanicals followed by their Chilli Vodka distilled using fresh chillies and most recently a Strawberry Vodka using home-grown strawberries.
AK’S Gin will be available from 24 January
