Kerr’s Borders Gin
First Produced
2018Still Type
Carter Head
The Kerr’s Borders Gin Story
The Borders Distillery is the first distillery in the Borders since 1837. Hawick has a proud history of manufacture and the distillery has been designed to celebrate the town’s enterprising past. It was created in a landmark building, painstakingly renovated to produce single malt whiskey, gin and vodka, all made from locally-grown barley.
The building itself is astounding and well worth a visit. William Kerr’s Gin is produced there, using their own water and some of that local barley to produce the base-spirit in-house. It’s a complete barley-to-bottle process!
William Kerr was Scotland’s most successful plant hunter, hailing from Hawick, and The Border’s Distillery named their gin after him in order to celebrate his wonderful sense of adventure. He is remembered for sending some 238 species of plants from Asia to Europe. So it’s fitting that the gin that bears his name has a complex mix of botanicals from near and far. These are steamed in a special copper basket in the still to infuse the amazing flavours and aromas that make William Kerr’s a very special gin that Hawick can be proud of.
Key Botanicals
- JUNIPER
- LEMON
- BITTER ORANGE
- SWEET ORANGE
- CORIANDER
- ANGELICA
- ORRIS
- ALMOND
- LIQUORICE
- CASSIA
- HERACLEUM SPONDHYLIUM
Tasting Notes
With strong juniper notes and tangy citrus flavours alongside liquorice and a warm, spicy finish.
Try serving with a premium tonic, plenty of ice and a slice of fresh orange.
Key Personnel
- Andrew Nairn – Distillery Manager
- Robyn Jardine – Distiller
Website
The Scottish Gin Society verdict
We read somewhere that the average person has 10,000 taste buds. If that’s true, William Kerr’s Gin had every single one of them singing! Although it’s a classic juniper-led gin, there is such a flavourful complexity to it, it is hard to put into words. We loved the citrus zing, the spicy notes and the hint of liquorice all working together. A great Scottish Gin and one we think Mr William Kerr would have taken his hat off to.
