Top Billing visits a gin distillery with Tanqueray

Lorna visits the Tanqueray master distillery in Scotland 

Our beautiful hostess has spent a lot of time in Scotland and, if you’ve been following her trip, it’s easy to see why she’d want to stick around. Her latest adventure was to experience more of the good life in Edinburgh, with Tanqueray’s master gin distiller as her guide.

The renowned gin which Charles Tanqueray gave his name to was produced by a still in London - until it was severely damaged in World War II. The surviving still moved to Cameron Bridge in Scotland, where it continues to this day, under Master Distiller Terry Fraser.

When he arrived at the distillery, here on the River Leven, Terry began on the bottling line. Three and a half decades on, he oversees everything from sourcing high quality botanicals to the supply of Tanqueray across the world.

These botanicals include juniper, coriander, angelica, and liquorice, while Tanqueray 10 adds grapefruit, fresh lime, orange, and camomile flowers, though interestingly, '10' refers to the still number and not the flavours, there are 8 flavours in Tanqueray number 10. 

Lorna learnt that the quality of gin corresponded with the invention of the continuous still and its advancement into what they call The Coffey still. The result was an infinitely cleaner spirit which needed no sugar to hide imperfections.

One of the main advantages of such a clean spirit is how it allows botanicals like juniper to shine through.

With a spring in her step about South African grapefruit being a key to Number Ten, Lorna took in the renowned Register Club to ask Stuart McCluskey how locals take their gin.

Enjoying delicious Tanqueray cocktails served with steel straws to save our oceans, there could be no more well rounded, modern and stylish way to sign off our journey to the heart of Tanqueray.


  

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