Arbikie is launching its latest gin named after Alexander Kirkwood Stirling, the father of Arbikie owners Iain, John and David.
AK’S Gin is distilled using honey and wheat farmed at Arbikie along with black pepper, mace and cardamom. As farmers, the Stirlings are fully aware of the importance bees play in pollinating crops with recent figures suggesting they are worth £1.8 billion to the UK agriculture industry each year.
With wild bees under threat Arbikie plan to install it’s own hives to produce the required honey as well as pollinating the surrounding land. Coupled with growing it’s own Juniper, Arbikie places sustainability at the heart of the business.
Distillery manager Christian said: “We chose our Viscount variety of wheat because it gave us a beautiful, buttery character. Coupled with our fresh honey, AK’s Gin is incredibly smooth lending itself to a great gin and tonic and an amazing base spirit for cocktails.”
With Burns Night fast approaching Arbikie was keen to launch its tribute to its farming father when one of the world’s most famous farmer’s sons, Rabbie Burns is celebrated across the globe.
Director John Stirling said: “We’re delighted that AK’s Gin can be enjoyed as part of the Burns Night celebrations. Our dad is an inspiration to us and we wanted to create a gin that reflected his character and our family’s farming roots. He’s farmed all his life and is proud that we are distilling using our family’s own crops and is keen that we share that unique provenance with our Arbikie customers.”
Arbikie has a growing reputation for innovation and field-to-bottle provenance as it grows its ingredients on the estate to ensure traceability. In 2014, it created the first Scottish Potato Vodka, before launching Kirsty’s Gin using locally-foraged botanicals. This was followed by the launch of Chilli Vodka which is distilled using fresh chillies and more recently Strawberry Vodka, made using home-grown strawberries.
Arbikie by the Fire (served warm)
50ml AK’s Gin, 100ml water,
4 cloves, 1 cinnamon stick, lemon peel, orange peel 1cm piece of sliced ginger, 5ml lemon juice
1 tbsp honey.
AK’s G&T
50 ML AK’s Gin, A premium tonic, garnished with an orange twist and thyme
AK’s Greyhound
50ml AK’s Gin
10ml lemon juice
10ml agave syrup
75ml grapefruit juice dash orange bitters (optional) and 50ml Soda.
