Gin is more than just a drink; it’s a reflection of craftsmanship, artistry, and a careful balance of botanicals. At The Shropshire Distillery, we create small-batch gins that are carefully crafted with high-quality botanicals to provide a truly unique drinking experience. But what makes our gins stand out? Well there's a number of things, but our botanical profiles and how we blend and layer them to create distinctive, well-balanced flavour profiles is certainly a key point!
Get an insider’s look at The Shropshire Distillery and uncover the secrets behind the botanicals that make our gins truly special. Discover why joining our Gin School is the perfect opportunity to unleash your inner gin creator, with expert guidance and hand-picked botanicals.
The Power of Botanicals in Gin
While juniper berries are essential to gin and should be the main botanical, the range of other botanicals included in the distillation process helps define the spirit's flavour profile. These botanicals can include herbs, spices, flowers, citrus peels, and fruits that flavour the base spirit with their unique qualities.
At The Shropshire Distillery, we believe in consistency and quality. That’s why we work with a handful of trusted botanical suppliers who provide us with the finest, hand-selected botanicals. We don’t deviate from this carefully curated selection, ensuring that every bottle of gin we produce delivers the same high-quality flavour profile. From our Aromatic Spiced Gin to the limited-edition Frankincense & Myrrh Gin, we strive to offer an exceptional experience that reflects our commitment to quality.
Our Key Botanicals: A Closer Look
The foundation of any gin starts with juniper berries. But at The Shropshire Distillery, we take pride in blending juniper with a selection of carefully chosen botanicals that enhance the spirit’s complexity. Here are the FOUR CORE botanicals that we use in all of our gins:
1. Juniper Berries:
As the essential botanical in gin, juniper berries impart a piney, citrusy flavour that serves as the backbone of every gin. While juniper is always the star, we balance it with other botanicals to create a unique flavour profile.
2. Coriander:
We use English coriander seed, a key point of difference in our gin-making process. Coriander seeds provide a bright, spicy note with a subtle citrus flavour, adding complexity and depth to the gin. This English variety pairs perfectly with juniper, offering a distinctive touch that enhances the overall flavour profile of our spirits, setting our gins apart from others.
3. Angelica Root:
Angelica root is a stabilising botanical that adds earthy and herbal notes to the gin. It also helps bind the other botanicals together, ensuring that the flavours blend harmoniously.
4. Orris Root:
Known for its floral notes, orris root adds a delicate touch to gin, acting as both a flavour enhancer and a fixative to preserve the aromas of other botanicals.
At The Shropshire Distillery, each of our gins has its own unique recipe. While all our gins share the four core botanicals, each recipe is carefully crafted to highlight different flavours, creating a distinct taste profile for every bottle. This attention to detail ensures that, although they share common ingredients, each gin is truly one of a kind. The difference in flavour is evident in each sip, making every gin we create a unique experience that stands apart from the others.
Why Consistency and Quality Matter
When it comes to creating great gin, consistency and quality are non-negotiable. This is why only use our trusted botanical suppliers. By using the same high-quality botanicals for every batch, we ensure that each bottle of our gin has the same exceptional flavour and aroma. The consistency in our botanicals is a key part of what makes our gins stand out.
Experience the Art of Gin Making at Our Gin School
While we take pride in crafting high-quality gins at the distillery, we know that many gin lovers are curious about how they can experience the magic of gin making themselves. This is where our Gin School comes in.
At our Gin School, you have the opportunity to craft your very own personalised gin under the guidance of our expert distillers. But it’s not just about throwing a bunch of botanicals into a bottle—it’s about understanding how different botanicals interact and create balance, depth, and complexity. You’ll learn how to create a gin that’s uniquely yours, using the same high-quality botanicals we use at The Shropshire Distillery, you'll blend and bottle you gin and take it home to enjoy!
What You’ll Experience at Gin School:
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Introduction to Gin Making: Learn about the history of gin and how we use botanicals to craft our unique flavours.
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Craft Your Own Gin: Choose from our selection of premium botanicals and blend them to create your very own gin.
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Guided Distilling: Under the supervision of our expert distillers, you’ll distil your own gin in one of our custom mini copper stills.
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Tasting : Sample your creation and personalise your labels for your very own gin creation.
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Take Your Gin Home: Once your gin is crafted, you’ll have the opportunity to bottle it up and take it home to enjoy.
Botanical Layering: The Key to Unique Flavours
A key part of making a truly unique gin is the art of botanical layering. Just as you would layer spices and herbs in cooking to create complex and balanced flavours, we layer botanicals in our gin to create a flavour profile that’s rich and multi-dimensional with lasting flavour.
When crafting our gins, we think about the interplay between botanicals. For example, in our Aromatic Spiced Gin, we blend warm spices like Pink Peppercorns, Cubebs and Cassia Bark with bright Orange citrus notes, creating a rich, layered gin that offers a warming sensation and a hint of spice. Meanwhile, our Cherry & Pink Peppercorn Gin balances the sourness of cherries with the light spice pink peppercorns, creating a lively and surprising flavour.
Botanical layering is an essential skill—and one that you’ll have the chance to try when you join us at the Gin School. Our experts will guide you through the process of creating the perfect balance of botanicals to suit your taste preferences.
Conclusion: Craft Your Own Gin at The Shropshire Distillery
At The Shropshire Distillery, we’re passionate about creating high-quality gins that showcase the beauty of botanicals. With our commitment to quality and consistency, we’ve perfected the art of botanical blending to craft gins that are truly exceptional. And while we’re proud of our own creations, we want to share the gin-making experience with you.
Whether you’re looking to craft your own gin at our Gin School or explore our gins, we invite you to experience the magic of botanicals for yourself. Visit us today and discover how we use botanicals to create unique, unforgettable gins.
