FIRST JOURNEYS - THE HIGHLANDS TRAIL- PIN 13 OF 22
ARBIKIE HIGHLAND ESTATE, Angus, Scotland
A JOURNEY EXPLORING THE HIGHLANDS OF SCOTLAND
Our Scottish gin journey now takes us to the east coast of Angus, where farmland meets the sea at Arbikie Highland Estate, home of Kirsty’s Gin.
Set near the dramatic coastline of Lunan Bay, Arbikie is a place where farming and distilling have been connected for generations.
The estate has a history stretching back to 1794, but its newest chapter began when the Stirling family transformed an old farm barn into a modern working distillery.
Arbikie describes itself as a true plough-to-bottle distillery, with every stage of production connected to the land around it. The crops are grown, harvested and transformed into spirits on the family farm, creating a genuine sense of place in every bottle.
Kirsty’s Gin takes this philosophy to the heart of the spirit. Unlike many gins that use a grain base, this gin is created from a potato spirit made using varieties grown on the estate, including Maris Piper, King Edward and Cultra potatoes.
The botanicals tell the story of the landscape surrounding Arbikie: kelp from the ocean, thistle from the land and blaeberries from the surrounding countryside. Together, they represent the three elements that define the estate—sea, rock and soil.
Behind the gin is master distiller Kirsty Black, whose journey into distilling began after an entirely different career.
Originally an engineer working on medical technologies including diabetes monitoring and pregnancy tests, Kirsty eventually returned to Heriot-Watt University to pursue her passion for brewing and distilling.
During her studies, she gained experience with Caledonian Brewery and worked on the development of Pickering’s Gin, a project that helped shape her future career. After meeting the Stirling brothers at Arbikie, the next chapter of her story began.
Since then, Kirsty has become one of Scotland’s most innovative distillers.
In 2018 she received the Young Scientist of the Year Scotland Award from the Institute of Food Science and Technology for her research into legume crops, and she later helped create Nàdar Gin, one of the world’s first climate-positive gins, using a spirit distilled from peas.
Beyond the science and innovation, Kirsty’s work is rooted in a deep respect for the ingredients around her. Her approach challenges the traditional idea of what a spirit can be, while still keeping the landscape at the heart of every creation.
Kirsty’s Gin is a perfect example of this philosophy—a spirit that looks to the future while remaining firmly connected to the fields, coastline and natural surroundings of Arbikie. It is a gin shaped not only by botanicals, but by the people, seasons and landscape that bring those ingredients to life.
From potatoes grown in the soil beneath the distillery to botanicals gathered from the surrounding landscape, Kirsty’s Gin is a celebration of what happens when farming, science and imagination come together.
For today's serve, I recreated Arbikie’s Angus Breakfast Martini, adding my own Scottish twist with whisky marmalade.
Made with:
- 40ml Kirsty’s Gin
- 20ml Lemon Juice
- 1 large spoon of Whisky Marmalade
Traditionally, this would be double strained to remove the peel, but sometimes the best approach is simply to embrace the ingredients—waste not, want not!
Fresh, citrusy and with a hint of Scottish indulgence, it’s the perfect breakfast-inspired serve for a gin born from the fields, coast and creativity of Angus.