The result is a clean, dry gin with crisp apple notes and fleeting scents of the coarse, blustery landscape that surrounds the distillery. It comes in reassuringly weighty bottles that have the Caorunn ‘star’ – in fact a representation of the calyx at the bottom of a rowan berry – etched into the base. We try it neat and with a local tonic, garnished with red apple, and agree that it is as Highland as the malt whiskies Speyside is traditionally famed for.
And so the news of Caorunn’s latest release, when it is revealed to us later over a fitting dinner of haggis, makes perfect sense. The Cask Aged is a limited-edition small batch run of 797 bottles of Caorunn gin which has been carefully aged in Spanish oak whisky casks to create an entirely new drink. Not quite gin, not whisky, but something hovering in between; the perfect marriage of warmth and freshness. At 56% proof it is delicious to sip like a fine malt, but also works well lengthened with ginger ale and finished with a sprig of rosemary.
