Scottish Gin Club - Purist Gin - August 2020
We're delighted to introduce Purist Gin to you as our August Gin of the Month. A brand new and exceptionally smooth gin with an amazing depth of flavour.
Purist Gin Key Facts
Launched: June 2020
ABV: 42%
Location: Glasgow (distilled in Arbroath)
The Purist Gin Story
Purist Gin is a family affair and was launched in June 2020 by Bruce Walker with the mentorship of his parents. Bruce has always had an interest in business and started his first enterprise aged 13. By the time he was 16, he was making small batches of fruity compound gins with his mother. This piqued his interest in gin production and experimenting with different flavours.
After leaving school, travelling and working in hospitality, Bruce found himself working at an award-winning distillery. This included learning the gin development process including the recipe and also the ins and outs of building a gin brand. After his time at the distillery came to an end, Bruce found himself in a sales role. While difficult, it taught him about selling, marketing and business life. This gave Bruce confidence to start his own venture.
After teaming up with a distiller in Arbroath, Bruce started offering a service to allow pubs, bars and restaurants to create their own gins. After a very promising start, the COVID-19 outbreak put paid to this so it was time to launch his own gin brand and Purist Gin was born!
Purist Gin
With a quality over quantity approach, Bruce has carefully considered the botanicals and uses advanced distilling techniques to create Purist Gin. In total there are 7 botanicals which are sourced from around the world to create a sense of place and journey.
Juniper is obviously the most important botanical and having tested juniper from around the globe, Bruce decided to settle on Italian juniper as the best complement the other key botanicals.
The next most important botanical is yuzu which is imported from Japan. Both sharp and sweet at the same time, yuzu is like a cross between lemon and grapefruit. The yuzu has a rich zest which brings through all the sweet notes without overpowering the flavour.
Cranberries are then combined with the yuzu to elevate the sweet notes while bringing a burst of berries to the liquid. Chinese cassia and Turkish cinnamon are then added to spice the nose ever so slightly.
The botanicals are combined with the purest Scottish mountain water from Glen Isla.
Serving Suggestions
We find Purist Gin so smooth that it can be sipped over ice. However, if enjoying as a G&T then we recommend over lots of ice with a double measure of the gin topped up with 100ml of a quality, classic tonic.
Our favourite garnish is a wedge of pink grapefruit but it works equally well with any citrus fruit.
Purist Art
Purist Gin was born with art in mind and when you purchase a bottle of Purist Gin you are also supporting independent artists.
Purist Art is an initiative that allows independent artists to design the a label for each batch of Purist Gin. The artist will receive a percentage of each bottle sale which provides them with a financial gain along with the exposure.
The initiative is open to all creators including photographers, sculptors, painters and graphics designers etc. The label can be applied to either a black or a white bottle.