After visiting The Edinburgh Gin distillery a few weeks ago, I was intrigued to discover the other gin distillery of Scotland’s capital city and booked a tour last weekend (10£ including 2 neat gins & complimentary G&T at the bar: I call that good value for money :D) between my weekly New Town shopping session & pokemon-catching walk (ok no, this last bit isn’t true, my app is down… but I just like to pretend it’s not, makes me feel better ;))

Summerhall Distillery is housed on the site of an old animal hospital. Part of a veterinary school known locally as the Dick Vet. Or it was. Now it’s an arts venue called Summerhall. With a pub in the middle of it. Called The Royal Dick. And Pickering’s is next door. Edinburgh’s first exclusive gin distillery in over 150 years.

if visiting, you’ll get introduced to the ethos and story behind Pickering’s gin, which is based on an original Bombay recipe, kept secret since 1947, and comes in 3 different expressions as well as the occasional limited edition (special thumbs up for the elegant official Military Tattoo gin, oh so cute with its wee fluffy hat).

I had a really great time visiting the distillery and couldn’t recommend it enough to anyone travelling to Edinburgh – the visit was actually quite different from what I previously experienced at Edinburgh Gin, much more focused on the products – Of course, as a crazy cat lady, seeing the ancient dog & cat crates reused as storage space for the distillery & how they refurbished the old Vet university is an experience I utterly enjoyed [also heard that there’s a brewery next door located in the ancient stables… Probably need to have a look at it before I go back home… Only 10 days left already :'(].

Thanks a lot to our enthusiastic Australian blue-haired guide who, beside from having the best hair color ever, was also a goldmine of information about all things gin (and allowed us to taste a couple of Oak Aged expressions at the end #SpoiledBrat). My definite favourite however, was the Pickering’s 1947, incredibly flavoursome with a pleasant ginger-forward profile which I believe should appeal to whisky lovers!

Here are some pictures from my visit!