FIRST JOURNEYS - 80 GINS AROUND THE WORLD - PIN 57 OF 80
Inverroche, Stillbaai, South Africa
AROUND THE WORLD, ONE BOTTLE AT A TIME,
PHILEAS FOGG WOULD SURELY APPROVE
A pioneering South African gin, a pioneering woman and a distillery where women have helped build the story.
This feels like a very fitting gin to include in a series celebrating strong, independent women. Inverroche was founded by Lorna Scott, a woman who saw an opportunity in the wild fynbos growing around her home in Stilbaai and turned a hobby into one of South Africa's best-known craft spirits brands.
I originally featured Inverroche Verdant as part of an Instagram Live with Inverroche brand ambassador Bo, and it remains a particularly special gin for me because I'm originally from Cape Town. There was also a lovely coincidence when I discovered that the first bottles were sold on my birthday!
Lorna returned to South Africa after living in Scotland for around 20 years and settled back in Stilbaai, where her family had lived for generations. She began experimenting with gin at home, using the indigenous fynbos that surrounded her.
What started in her kitchen became Inverroche, founded in 2011 and now recognised as a pioneer of South African fynbos gin.
Verdant is made with green fynbos, including Mountain Fynbos, and uses a sugarcane spirit as its base. The original idea was quite simple: take the plants that grow naturally around Stilbaai and find a way of bringing their character into gin.
The result was something genuinely different from the gins being produced at the time, not just because of the ingredients but because of the colour. Inverroche became known for its naturally coloured gins, with Verdant taking on its distinctive translucent green-gold appearance.
Lorna wasn't just creating a gin. She was creating an industry around something that was uniquely South African.
The distillery has grown from a small home business into a proper production facility and visitor destination at Stilbaai, while fynbos remains at the centre of everything they do.
There is another part of the Inverroche story that I think deserves attention.
The company has deliberately created employment opportunities in the local community and today more than 70% of its workforce is female. Inverroche says many of these women are from the local area and that, in some cases, several generations of women from the same households work for the business.
That feels particularly appropriate given that the business itself was started by a woman. Lorna has spoken about Inverroche as a way of creating opportunities for women and supporting the local community, rather than simply bringing a product into Stilbaai and exporting it elsewhere. The business has become one of the area's significant employers and continues to support local suppliers.
There is also a lovely example of how people can progress within the business. Lorna has previously talked about a woman who started in the packaging room, moved into front of house and eventually became an assistant distiller. It is these stories that make the “women supporting women” part of the Inverroche story feel more tangible.
The fynbos itself is another important part of the story. The Cape Floral Kingdom is one of the world's six recognised floral kingdoms and the smallest, yet incredibly rich in plant species. Inverroche works with hand-harvested fynbos and has also established its own nursery and regeneration programme to help protect the plants it relies upon.
Lorna also talks about Stilbaai as part of the “cradle of human civilisation”, and once you start looking into the history of this coastline, you can understand why.
Just along the coast is Blombos Cave, where archaeologists have found evidence of early modern humans dating back more than 100,000 years, including engraved ochre, shell beads and what is regarded as some of the earliest evidence of symbolic behaviour and art. The wider Southern Cape is also rich in San rock art, with generations of people leaving paintings and engravings across the landscape.
It gives the place an extraordinary sense of history. The same landscape that produces this incredibly diverse collection of fynbos has been home to people, inspiring them to gather, create, tell stories and leave their mark for tens of thousands of years. I rather like the idea that Inverroche is continuing that tradition in its own way — taking something found in this remarkable corner of South Africa and turning it into a story that can travel around the world.
There have been some big changes since I first wrote about Inverroche. In 2019 Pernod Ricard bought a majority stake in the company.
In February 2025, Pernod Ricard completed the purchase of the remaining shares, making Inverroche its first wholly owned African spirits brand. Lorna remains involved with the brand, ensuring that the original connection to Stilbaai and the fynbos isn't lost.
The distillery is still open to visitors today, offering tours, tastings and a Gin Academy, so Inverroche has gone from a gin made by Lorna in her kitchen to an international brand without losing its roots in the small South African community where it began.
"Women helping women"
Cocktail: Bold & Beautiful
25ml Inverroche Verdant
25ml Amaro
25ml Capertif Vermouth
10ml each Orange & Lemon Juice
5ml Elderflower cordial
Foamer, such as egg white or aquafaba
"Show me a bottle
and I'll tell you a story."
