Page 111 - Bespoke Issue

Another Gin has landed on my desk, the word must be out that we like at Gin at Paddock Life, this one however has a great story behind it. Elrick House, is an estate in Newmacher just outside Aberdeen, it was built in 1720 at the height of the Scottish Enlightenment and was home a particularly progressive family who travelled extensively. Whilst in southern Italy they were taken by the new way of think-ing sweeping Europe that questioned the absolute power of the Church as a state and law in favour of free will and science. This was something that resonated with the family of Elrick House as they welcomed many a maverick thinker as guests at the estate, more than likely enjoying a glass or two of the house’s distilled gins. The new occupant of Elrick House, Stuart Ingram, seeks to align himselve with the ancestry of the Estate and with its arts and creativity.
It is this mind-set that has been the backbone of Stuart Ingram, the architect of Gin brand of House of Elrick – one of the independent thinker and doer, the entrepreneur. These have become the core pillars of everything the brand represents.
Over the years guests continued to visit the estate, the gardens are documented as being particularly beautiful and to have grown the Jacobite rose, rumoured to have been gifted to the estate by the Young Pretender (Bonnie Prince Charlie) himself, as he neared the end of his days leading up to the Jacobite uprising. The rose was later gifted to Balmoral by the Elrick estate, where is grows today.
The Elrick estate is expecting a clipping from the rose back this summer so it can be re-planted and take centre stage in the botanicals.
The Gin is a small batch, super premium liquid, distilled using the puri ed water from Loch Ness with botanicals of juniper, coriander seeds, angelica root and citrus peel. It is built around a core of heather, pink pepper corns, sweet fennel and rose petals which give it a pleasantly citrus taste with a oral undertone, served with a small slice of orange (or some orange zest if you have time) and a good premium tonic. It makes a great gin and tonic, but I also like to try it neat as this gives a much more accurate sample of the avours and it so wonderfully smooth.
There are two other bottles available from the House of Elrick, Old Tom gin and Old Tom coconut gin, both pay homage to the origins of gin itself and the 17th century gin craze when taxes were so high it was forced underground. As we see time and time again, adversity breeds entrepreneurs so maverick distillers started to produce a new type of gin – Old Tom. Identi ed by a black Tom Cat sign in a win-dow or discreetly on the wall of what were call “puss and mew” shops that had popped up across London. A thirsty reveller would stop and whisper “Puss?” wherever the Tom Cat was visible, if the gin was available “Mew” would be the reply from inside, a coin would be dropped down a pipe and shot of gin would come back down the pipe. The Tom Cat gin was sweeter than the usual London
Dry so I look forward to sampling the new House of Elrick Old Tom, but I think I’ll take mine in a glass...
Stuart has also created an Elrick tartan through local supplier Prickly Thistle for the range of apparel available from bespoke kilts to silk ties, I can well imagine a few bottles of gin going down and we all order tartan out ts, only to nd out a few days later when they turn up... good marketing idea Stuart.
Stuart has self-funded the business so far, including the restoration of the walled garden, all done painstakingly by hand by a local stone smith, where the gins botanicals are grown, he is also a great believer in the importance of supporting local business, his new still for example is being smithed in Elgin when it could have been acquired at a fraction of the cost in Europe. This is the brand ethos of House of Elrick.
The gin is available in premium locations such as Selfridges, Fortnum & Mason and World Duty Free, so what’s next? Stuart is planning a ne dinning experience with a restaurant based within the walled garden that serves real eld to fork local produce, with plans for a spa and small boutique hotel. The aim is not just to sell great gin, but drive visitors to the location to enjoy the extraordinary Aberdeenshire countryside and coastline. Make me a reservation now I feel another story coming on, now where’s my G&T?
111