SUMMER IN A GLASS
A hidden garden brimming with herbs and flowers provides the perfect ingredients for flavoured gin
THE EFFLORESCENCE OF early summer has turned to the promise of a season fulfilled. Nursed by the warmth of the midsummer sun, a kaleidoscope of flowers permeates the countryside, the fields and wild flower meadows dripping with the sweet nectar of their blooms. Industrious bees are busily engaged in flitting among the colourful petals, their fuzzy hair dusted with pollen from a thousand flowers.
On a 7.5-acre herb nursery, nestled at the foot of the Scottish Pentland hills, the gardens are also alive with the hum of pollination. Irises, geraniums and lemon verbena burst in the richest profusion while billowing lavender flows through the borders, luring butterflies and bees. But it is not only pollinators that benefit from this secret haven. Grassy pathways interweave between rows of dense juniper bushes, each one glistening with deep-blue berries. These tiny jewels are a gin drinker’s delight and are hand-picked, dried and distilled on-site to make a range of delicious gins, infused with petals from the nursery. At the Secret Garden Distillery, 600 tended varieties of flowers and herbs are naturally grown, alongside 4,000 juniper bushes and 2,000 apothecary roses, to add delicate floral flavours to gins, creating a spirit that is rooted in nature and informed by the bounty of the season.
It was never the intention of owner Hamish Martin to handcraft botanical gin. After spending years in the drinks trade, he decided to pursue his love of nature, training as a herbologist at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh. In 2012, Hamish and his wife, Liberty, bought the derelict plot and started work on a herb nursery and café. “It took us two years before we could open the doors and welcome people into the Secret Herb Garden; a green oasis, where adults and children can come and immerse themselves in the beauty of nature,” explains Hamish. After experimenting with the botanicals he lovingly nurtured, Hamish discovered their subtle flavours and began distilling spirits using these natural ingredients.
“In 2017, we converted our barn into a gin distillery and started producing our first apothecary rose gin.” These sumptuous blooms now grow in abundance at the nursery and have been carefully planted to emulate the appearance of the flower from above. At the end of June and the beginning of July, paths are strewn with the natural confetti of rose petals. The flowering time of apothecary rose is ephemeral, so this becomes
a hectic period for harvesting the petals. The botanicals are then placed in a drying room before being moved to the distillery to create the enchanting flavour combinations.
“I don’t have a process; I just allow the plants to come together,” says Hamish. “There is no business plan, regime or new product development; the flavours arrive because the plants make it so obvious.” The range also includes a gentle infusion of lavender and echinacea; chamomile and cornflower; and the natural sweetness of elderflower and jasmine.
One of Hamish’s favourite gins is made using plants most would consider to be weeds, such as nettles, sweet woodruff, wood avens root, yarrow, dandelion, meadowsweet and bog myrtle. “The magic lies in the wild plants that grow at your feet, and our wild gin celebrates that,” he explains.
Free from chemicals, preservatives, sugars and fruit extracts, the gins are 100 per cent natural, with the distinct floral notes indebted entirely to the delicate blend of botanicals. The nursery also offers a gin garden and distillery tour exploring the natural process, from growing and harvesting the specialist herbs and floral varieties to drying and distilling the gin, and learning about their colour-changing qualities when tonic is added.
Hamish was brought up in Edinburgh and has spent his life hill running and wild camping in the Pentlands. “I can see the hills from all around the garden, and as it erupts with colour in the dizzying heights of summer, with the scents that fill the air, the humming of the bees and the singing of the birds, I know that I am home.”