By Kevin Wilkerson, PubClub.com Spirits Editor
I had a garden delivered to me. In a bottle.
Better yet, it was in a bottle of gin!
It was Gordon Castle Gin, which is distilled from botanicals grown in a 500-year-old Scottish castle estate with a restored eight-acre Walled Garden. The botanicals are hand-grown, harvested and distilled fresh and produce a, floral, herb-filled profile. Gordon Castle is the only gin in the world created from such a garden and it is now available in the U.S.
Now if all this sounds like PR speak in a press release it does, but I am here to tell you that it’s not hype, it’s reality. I poured a sample out of the beautiful bottle – which has cork in it, speaking to the quality of the product – and was met with an aroma of the herbs. I poured some into a glass and was blown away by it, for it tasted like an actual garden. It was light, fresh and flavorful. I tasted its mint, lavender and gooseberry. For a moment, I forgot I was drinking a spirit and instead maybe some herbal health drink, but that feeling quickly faded when I realized it is pretty potent, too.
As a result, I sipped it instead of slamming it, which enabled me to take my time and really enjoy it. And here’s the really funny thing: I’m not really much of a gin drinker. I hardly ever order it when I’m in a bar or to make a drink at home. Yet since first opening the bottle, I have not hesitated to drink Gordon Castle Gin.
Gordon Castle Gin was named one of the Best Botanical Gins of 2025 by Garden Illustrated. Gordon Castle actually exists, by the way. It was built in the 1470s by George Gordon, 2nd Earl of Huntly, as a fortified tower known as the Bog o’ Gight and over the centuries into one of the largest and most distinguished houses in Scotland. The garden is an educational visitor attraction featuring heritage planting with contemporary design—vegetable and herb beds, fruit tunnels and a café.
So look for a bottle at your local spirits retailer or if you’re out, ask if the bar or restaurant serves it.
Link: Gordon Castle Gin website
Gordon Castle Gin Cocktial Recipes
Here are receipes using Gordon Castle Gin.
Lady Caroline
Glassware – Coup Glass
• 2 oz Gordon Castle Walled Garden Gin
• 1 Egg White
• 1 tsp Marmalade syrup
• 1 oz Elderflower liqueur
• 1/2 oz Lemon Juice
• 1.5 oz champenoise
• Spritz of rose water
• 3 drops angostura bitters
Dry shake all the ingredients except for the champenoise until a nice froth is formed. Add ice to
the shaker and shake again for another 12 seconds and double strain into a chilled coupe glass.
Garnish by hanging a Lady Caroline fly that has been sprayed with the rose on the side of the
glass. (Alternatively you can substitute the fly with a feather attached with a cocktail clip.)
Gordon’s Garden Cup
Glassware – Collins Glass
• 2 oz Gordon Castle Walled Garden Gin
• ½ oz Sweet vermouth
• 1 oz Aperol
• 1 oz Plum liquor
• 1 oz Strawberry jam
• 5 Mint leaves
• 3 Lemon balm leaves
• 3 disks of Cucumber
• Choice of Soda water, Tonic water, Ginger beer or Irn Bru
To a shaker add the gin, sweet vermouth, Aperol, plum liqueur, strawberry jam syrup, mint
leaves, lemon balm and cucumber. Shake vigorously and double strain into an ice filled Collins
glass. Top off with your choice of champanoise, ginger beer or Irn Bru. Garnish with
strawberries, cucumber and a bushel of mint and lemon balm.
The Bydand
Glassware – Old Fashioned Glass
• 2 oz Gordon Castle Walled Garden Gin
• 2 dash Orange bitters
• ½ oz Honey Syrup (equal parts honey to water)
• ½ oz Gordon Castle Plum Gin Liqueur (Sub Creme de Casis in the USA)
• Orange twist
Add the gin bitters honey syrup to a mixing glass with ice and stir to chill. Strain into an old
fashioned glass over the ice cube that has been stamped with the Bydand crest and drizzle
plum syrup over the crest of the cube. The Plum Gin Liqueur is currently only available in
Scotland and so you will have to visit to experience a true Bydand!
Garden Water
Glassware – Collins glass
• 2 oz Gordon Castle Walled Garden Gin
• ½ oz lemon juice
• Soda water
In a shaker filled with ice add the gin and lemon juice, shake and strain into the collins glass
filled with ice top of with soda water and gently pull the mixture up from the bottom. Garnish with
lemon, cucumber and your choice of fresh herbs from the garden, mint, lemon balm, thyme,
lavender or rosemary.
Highland Games Flaming Punch
• 2 Bottles Gordon Castle Walled Garden Gin
• 7 oz Marmalade
• 5 Lemon
• 5 Oranges
• 1 cup Sugar
• ¼ cup honey
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp All spice
• ½ tsp nutmeg
• 64 oz hot chamomile tea
Start off by prepping an oleo sacrum/sherbert. To a bowl add the zest of the lemons and
oranges leaving behind as much of the pith as possible. Next juice the peeled fruit and reserve
in another bowl for later. Add the 1 cup of superfine sugar to the zest (regular sugar is fine too)
muddle the zest and sugar a bit to release the oils and let rest for at least a few hours, overnight
if possible.The sugar will draw out all the oils of the zest and you will be left with a thick citrus
syrup known as oleo sacrum, now add to the juice to the oleo sacrum and you now have a citrus
sherbert.
Prior to service, I have ready: a punch bowl, I use a YETI Ice bucket, a long handled ladle, your
spice mixture in a spice sifter, honey and a YETI pitcher of 64 oz of hot, chamomile tea. You will
also want to warm your two bottles of gin by placing the bottles in a hot water bath about 20
minutes prior to service. This will allow the gin to more easily ignite.
Service: Brew your tea by adding 1 cup of looseleaf chamomile to your YETI pitcher, add the
french press lid and let steep. Next add the citrus sherbert with peels to the punch bowl along
with the honey and the two bottles of warmed gin, start by igniting a ladle full of the mixture and
introducing the lit ladle to the rest of the punch bowl, lift the lit mixture up and pour over itself
several times. The flames will get higher and start to warm the mixture, further caramelizing the
sugars and peels. Set your ladle aside and carefully add your spice mix over the top of the
flames with the spice sifter. This will make the flames burst slightly for a more dramatic light
show. Next, you will want to extinguish the flames by depressing the french press on your
pitcher of chamomile tea and slowly pouring the hot tea into the punch bowl. Mix with the ladl
Drink and enjoy!
Kevin Wilkerson is an award-winning journalist who personally sampled Gordon Castle Gin. This is his story and it was written by a human with no assistance from AI or ChatGTP.
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