St Andrew’s Day and time to celebrate a Scottish gin.
I was in Galloway last week and took the opportunity to seek out the Dark Arts distillery in Kirkcudbright.
It’s a wee gem. It’s part of the Johnston – a former primary school – which also houses the Dark Space planetarium. You can’t miss the building on the road into the artists’ town of Kirkcudbright – there’s a huge wicker horse outside.
Inside the distillery, which opened in 2021, is Peggy, a top-of-the-range 450 litre Carl still and they’re making two gins and Véspero – an agave spirit which is a Scottish homage to tequila. I must say that was delicious … but back to the gins!
Dark Sky and Under Story are both great examples of craft gin and they are produced in Scotland’s most southerly distillery. I probably preferred the spicy warm notes of Under Story, but when I did a tasting at the Open Book in Wigtown as part of my “meet the author” afternoons everyone agreed that Dark Sky is a great classic London dry gin – fresh and delicious. Under Story is more earthy and conjures up the pine of the Galloway forests. Both bottles are works of art – decorated at Image on Glass in Perthshire – and Dark Sky really captures the clear nights of Galloway.
The distillery is open for tours (check for timings) but thanks to Andrew and Gerard for showing me round. Cheers!
The GIN CLAN 