Hills & Harbour

Founded by Graham Taylor in 2017 (no, not the ex-England football manager), the Crafty Distillery is a 'grain-to-glass' operation based in a small town named Newton Stewart, just along the coast from Dumfries in the very south-west of Scotland. The wheat-base spirit for Hills & Harbour gin is produced on site, as opposed to being bought in as many gin producers do. This means they have more input into the flavour profile from the very start, and 11 further botanicals are then used - including pine needles, bay leaf, bladderwarck seaweed, green sichuan pepper seeds and even mango to evoke both the forest and the coasatline of the Galloway region.

Leaning into sustainability, Crafty redigned the already eye-catching bottle to be 30% lighter, and encourage consumers to reuse the bottle in a variety of ways, with the new shape making it useful as a carafe, vase or even a soap dispenser with the addition of a pump. The lid is also a completely unique design - the 100% mix of cork and natural wood has an indentation that can hold 12.5ml of liquid - so two measures from the lid equals a standard 25ml shot. Handy!

As for the gin itself, there's a lovely bright citrus feel to start with on both the nose and palate, before a touch of salt arrives, leading through to the influence of the pine needles and bay leaf to create a slightly drier finish - however thanks to the silky mouthfeel, this doesn't feel to drying, instead making it very moreish. A neutral tonic will allow this to shine through, but it's also a cracking gin for a dry Martini, with complexity throughout that a good Vermouth will accentuate even more!