Small Gin, Biggar mentality

By Tom
November 7, 2018
1 Comment

Produced in the foothills of Tinto Hills near the small Scottish town of Biggar, Biggar gin has a small batch mentality with big ambition.

Started and owned by two brothers Euan and Stuart McVicar, Biggar Gin was born out of the desire to create a gin that combined tradition, innovation & a sense of place… to create a gin that has “a bigger mentality”

What is a Biggar mentality?

Well according to Euan and Stuart it’s…

‘A small scale, rare, batch philosophy that reflects a passion, ambition and taste which is big.’

And when they say small scale they really do mean it. Biggar gin is handcrafted in batches of no more than 200 bottles at a time using locally-sourced botanicals where possible.

So why a Greyhound mascot?

The greyhound – calm, intelligent, dynamic and independent

In 1821 The Biggar Coursing Club was founded for ‘proprietors and resident gentlemen’ and they sent their greyhounds off racing across the fields of Biggar. By 1868 the club was in decline, so the remaining members changed it from a coursing club to a social club and they started using their subscription fees to purchase fine wines and spirits. To store it they rented the cellar of the Biggar Corn Exchange where there was room for sixty dozen bottles. An early twentieth-century magazine noted that ‘… if the taste for coursing has become extinct in the district, that for good wine has most certainly not.’ So, the Greyhound is a nod towards those great connoisseurs who really did appreciate a truly fine drink!

The Botanicals

On their website, they don’t show the full list of botanicals but Rowan berries & Rose Hip are mentioned along with citrus flavours & the other traditional London dry botanicals.

So what does it taste like?

The nose is dominated by fresh citrus, orange being the most prominent. The scent of juniper is also strong, a lovely oily juniper which is really pleasing to the nose. The palate is creamy and sweet with a good dose of savoury and more of that juniper oiliness. It has quite a pleasing mouthfeel with a great tingle all around the mouth. Despite its percentage (43%), it’s surprisingly smooth. As you hold the gin in your mouth the flavour grows and goes from sweet to savoury to spicy leaving a lovely warming finish on the tongue. Throughout the whole affair, juniper is jumping around in the background. It’s never too dominant but always there acting as an anchor for the other botanicals. Cut with water and the sweetness is dialled back a little with the citrus and juniper becoming more dominant.

Really like how the initial flavour is sweet, with citrus and juniper to the fore and then it slowly develops into a spicy warming finish that lingers long after the first sip.

Our Serve

First off I decided to keep it simple with a garnish of lime (instead of the suggested orange) to enhance those citrus notes. I then hit on another combination…I added a sprinkling of grated dark chocolate which in my opinion added a lovely bittersweetness to the whole drink. Tonic wise, I kept with my favourite Franklin and sons but could see this pairing with a number of different tonics quite well.

Awards

For a gin that only launched in April 2018, Biggar has already been awarded best London Dry Gin by The Gin Guide against some very stiff global competition. It’s a great accolade for such a young brand and really does show how hard work and determination pays off – very well deserved.

If you would like to find out more about Biggar Gin check out their website here, or you can get social with them on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter!

TGB

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