The Botanist Islay Dry Gin is created at the Bruichladdich distillery. This superb Islay gin was distilled in the 'ugly betty' still described as "an oversized upside-down dustbin made of copper" by Tom Morton. It has perhaps the best looking packaging we've ever seen for a gin. It's not all style and no substance either. Botanist is a world-class gin set at a proper ABV.
A huge 31 botanicals go into The Botanist, 22 of which are foraged and native to Islay. The full list of botanicals is as follows: angelica root, apple mint, birch leaves, bog myrtle leaves, cassia bark, chamomile, cinnamon bark, coriander seed, creeping thistle flowers, elder flowers, gorse flowers, heather flowers, hawthorn flowers, juniper berries, lady's bedstraw flowers, lemon balm, lemon peel, liquorice root, meadow sweet, orange peel, oris root, peppermint leaves, mugwort leaves, red clover flowers, tansy, thyme leaves, water mint leaves, white clover, wood sage leaves. Phew!
Enough botanicals to make us wish we had five noses. Big notes of citrus, delicate menthol and flowers everywhere!
Cool at first. It quickly mellows out, warmth growing with citrus keeping it fresh throughout.
Long, with a good spice.
Islay isn't just about the whisky anymore. The Botanist Gin is top-notch.


This is a really great gin - fresh and complex at the same time. Just a shame they changed the bottle: the old brick shaped one made it really stand out as the something different that the contents really are.
They are charging £6 quid more just because of the gin having a new label. Nothing else has been changed or warrants the price increase. Not worth the extra now, move along and find a much higher quality and tasty gin in this price range rather than what you're paying for this.
Got this as a Christmas present from my brother last year. I now don't drink anything else. Why would you, when you can have something this good?
After years of experimenting and always returning to Tanqueray 10 for my Martini gin, The Botanist is stellar. Do not waste it on mixed cocktails!
I'd like to chime in as well on the packaging change. This is good gin, but the price increase is unfortunate as the bottle is less attractive than the original and it's the same exact gin inside of both.