A gin enthusiast is seeing his passion project come to life after collaborating with a successful Strathaven distiller.
Glasgow Fruit Market buyer Neil Young has dreamed of creating his own gin since growing his impressive 500-bottle collection at his East Ayrshire home.
And thanks to a link up with local ginologist Colin McLean - who produced the liquor from McLean’s Gin lab - Neil’s dream is now a reality with the launch of Irvine Valley Gin .
Featuring a range of carefully considered and locally sourced botanicals, Irvine Valley is a refreshing gin packed full of juicy elderberries, vibrant purple heather, tangy rowan berries and resinous pine needles.
And the label, designed by Colin’s illustrator Ann Anderson of Artianne Designs in Glassford, features detailed drawings of Irvine Valley landmarks Loudon Hill, the old viaduct, the Tollhouse in Newmilns, Balmoral and Galston Bridge.
And the community has already gotten behind the beautifully handcrafted product with the first batch of 286 bottles selling out within a week , and a second batch almost completely sold out in just two days.
Neil says he’s “overwhelmed” at the response and delighted his passion project can now be sampled in most local watering holes within the Irvine Valley - from Darvel to Galston.
The 54-year-old dad told Lanarkshire Live : “The first batch sold out within a week, in fact I oversold by 23 bottles - the second batch was bottled on Tuesday and I’ve already sold 90 per cent of it.
“I am totally overwhelmed with the uptake, the response and the feedback, which has been absolutely unbelievable.
“Linking up with Colin was fantastic, he really hit the brief from the offset. Colin is absolutely fantastic at what he does, I cannot emphasise that enough.
"The time and effort he’s put into this has been unbelievable.
“I can’t believe it’s actually happening. I took the bottle out the box and put it in my cabinet at home and thought ‘I’ve achieved what I set out to do here’.
"And not only that, it’s grown arms and legs.”
A gin enthusiast for the past seven years, Neil has accrued over 500 bottles and used his contacts in the food industry to open up doors for him in the world of drinks.
“It got to the stage where my garage became a gin den, so it’s become more of a passion than anything,” he told us.
“Because I’m from Darvel I have a connection the Irvine Valley and have thought about making my own gin for years. It would kill me if someone else started up a company doing gins from this area.
“I was put onto Colin back in June and what he suggested was very similar in terms of the botanicals I wanted to use.
“He did three samples for me to choose from and, two months later, we hit go.”
Neil stressed Irvine Valley Gin is not a company as such, but a passion of his and something for locals to enjoy.
As well as garnering interest from up and down the Valley, Neil revealed he’s had enquiries from across the pond from fellow enthusiasts in the United States, Canada and Western Australia.
“Gin has hit the mark in the last five years and has really taken off,” added Neil. “You’ll never go wrong with a gin.
“Go back 10-15 years you’ve got Gordon’s, Hendricks and Bombay Sapphire as the only gins on offer; now there’s 400 different types of gin in Scotland alone.”
He went on: “My wife and I have wrapped every bottle by hand and put them in a printed bottle bag so people are getting something nice.
“A lot of detail went into the label, Ann did a fantastic job. With the time, effort and cost that’s been spent on it, it’s not about the money for me, it’s a passion and purely about my love for gin.”
Distiller Colin said Irvine Valley Gin is a McLean’s gin - but not as you know it.
He told us: “We loved Neil’s suggestion for the project - a solid London Dry Gin that the community could get behind, featuring a range of carefully considered and locally sourced botanicals.
"Foraging is my favourite hobby; all the better when I can combine it with business.
“We got straight to work on some recipe development and it didn’t take long for Neil to settle on Trial 2. It was our favourite of the trials too; had Neil and Pauline not chosen it for themselves, we may have kept it up our sleeve for a future McLean’s product.
“The community certainly has gotten behind the gin. We’ve been closely following their social media journey and are really loving the feedback from locals - it seems to be a big hit and it’s great to see it pouring behind some of the best bars and restaurants in the Valley and beyond.
“Whilst our main focus is of course on our own range of products at McLean’s Gin, contract production is a growing part of our business and recipe development is definitely one of my favourite parts of ‘the job’ - it’s nice to wheel out my creative side from time to time.
“We’ve loved working with Neil on this project and it looks like their customers are enjoying drinking it as much as we did making it.”
The perfect serve of Irvine Valley Gin would be in a ball glass tumbler with with an orange or pink grapefruit, lots of ice and a Fever Tree tonic.
** Lanarkshire Live has one bottle of Irvine Valley Gin to give away to a lucky reader.
All you have to do to win this fantastic prize is fill in the jotform below and answer the simple question within - entries must be submitted by 11.59pm on October 23.
