Caorunn Raspberry Gin, 50 cl

Product Information

Sample botanicals: in addition to the juniper, there are some traditional botanicals such as cassia bark, angelica root, coriander, orange and lemon peel. However, there and five more that are locally-foraged: rowan berry, dandelion, heather, bog myrtle and coul blush apple. Illustrations of these are nicely displayed through the bottle too. Now ten years old, Caorunn comes to us from Balmenach Distillery near Cromdale (and Grantown-on-Spey), deep in Speyside whisky country. It’s a clear gin in a clear bottle, and is bottled at 41.8% ABV. The results are highly regarded as they are independently audited by a panel of experts and judged live in a rigorously assessed blind tasting event. Our list has travelled the geographical extremes of Scotland – from the lowlands to the Outer Hebrides, the east coast to Orkney. So it’s only fitting that we disembark on the most northerly inhabited island in the UK – Unst in the Shetland Isles. Almost 200 gins - all distilled in Scotland - were blind tasted this year and medals awarded in 11 categories.

Our Caorunn Gin review unearths a pure, fresh gin from Speyside in Scotland that loves to be served with a slice of crisp red apple. We tried Caorunn neat and we’re not going to advocate that. Some gins work very well neat (like these recommendations for neat gin), but it wasn’t for us – we felt it needed the tonic. Taking inspiration from Norse mythology, Hrafn Gin is the brainchild of two brothers – Callum and Peter Sim. The award-winning Valhall Gin is their ultra-premium expression and the higher strength sibbling to Thought & Memory – both of which have beautiful sweet mandarin as their signature botanical. If you think of a gin that has the smell of a malting floor and added juniper, this is Tobermory. Since I’m a whisky drinker, this is right up my street and Tobermory makes an absolutely excellent Martinez and Negroni that sort of become very Rob Roy and Boulevardier-like due to the whisky notes coming through.” Where Valhalla is a beautiful sipping gin, Thought & Memory is stunning as a longer drink – and it makes a mean G&T.

Shetland Reel Simmer Gin is one of three ‘core’ gins produced at Saxa Vord Distillery by distiller Mark Turnbull. At 49% ABV it’s on the stronger side, and contains botanicals including orange peel, liquorice root and cumin. Disclosure: Sipping & Styling has previously collaborated with Crafty Distillery, although bought the bottle of their gin herself. Free sample bottle previously provided to From the Gin Shelf for review.

We began our journey to create something special for our 10-year anniversary some time ago and we were concerned with just one thing – the flavour. Here at Caorunn it’s all about flavour: natural raspberry sweetness with no messing about. So when we finalised the recipe for a crystal-clear gin that's infused with delicate raspberryflavour without the use of any additives or colours one thing was clear – our new flavoured gin was definitely not going to be pink! #NotPink Based in Aberdeenshire, Little Brown Dog Spirits was founded by Andrew Smith and Chris Reid. Their flagship gin, LBD, is a newcomer to the Scottish gin scene, launching in May 2020. While the original Caorunn Gin is one of Scotland’s best known and loved gins, it’s the recently launched Caorunn Raspberry that The Gin Shelf has selected as one of his top Scottish gins.The Scottish Gin Awards have revealed gin brands which have successfully achieved medal status in 2023, following the awards dinner in Glasgow this month.