Something old, something new, something borrowed, and

Something Blue, the latest gin to join the growing McLean’s range that includes Signature, Floral, Spiced, Citrus and Cherry Bakewell.

Something Blue was created to celebrate the wedding of Colin McLean and his partner Jess in June 2018 and was initially made as a limited batch to mark their union. However, it was so well received that it is now a permanent fixture in the range.

The beautiful blue tint comes from the addition of butterfly pea, a botanical found in Thailand.

But, let’s rewind, how did they get to here? And when I mean here, I don’t mean their something new Gin Lab, where we visited them last month. I mean how did McLean’s Gin come to be?

It all began when Colin was given a gin making kit as a Christmas gift back in 2015, due to his love of making beer and other experiments. Fast forward a

The McLeans range

month or so to Valentine’s Day, (well the day before) and he realised that he had completely forgotten to buy Jess a gift. But there, staring him in the eye was the gin-making kit …

The romantic gin he made exceeded all expectations, so Colin decided to investigate how to make his own recipes. Without a still, Colin decided to embark on compounding gin, often called bath-tub which dates back to the 1700s, that’s the something old. A compound gin is created by soaking the botanicals in neutral spirit, then filtering the liquid to produce gin.

Until recently, McLean’s gin was made in possibly one of the smallest distilleries, a cupboard in their flat in the south-side of Glasgow, but now the McLean’s Gin Lab has moved to a new home in the rolling countryside of Strathaven (something new). Along with the move to the new premises, Colin has given up his job in construction and is now 100% dedicated to producing the McLean’s range.

As we always say, no two distillery visits are the same, and this is was no exception, we felt privileged to be invited to see first-hand the workings of McLean’s Gin. Every bottle in their range is created here in small batches, before being bottled, labelled and sealed by hand. 

After seeing the passion and dedication behind McLean’s Gin, The Scottish Gin Society team are seriously thinking of ‘borrowing’ the idea of a gin-making kit for our partners this Christmas!

You can buy the range of McLean’s Gins through Craft 56.

Please drink gin responsibly.