As a supporter of International Scottish Gin Day I was introduced to a new gin brand, Snawstorm Scottish Spirits, founded by Leon and Susan Chessor. While I was gifted a bottle of Snawstorm Gin as part of a collaboration, this has not influenced my views.
Having initially launched a vodka, to great reviews, Leon and Susan have now turned to a gin inspired by the Cairngorms national park, so I caught up with Leon to find a bit more about what Snawstorm Gin is all about, and why it’s important for us to be highlighting the amazing gin makers from all across Scotland as part of International Scottish Gin Day.
Snawstorm Gin is brand new to the market having just been introduced in the summer of 2020. When you first smell it you can tell that it’s a classic dry gin, with a very juniper forward profile that immediately showed that it was going to be one I was going to enjoy a lot. That ‘traditional’ flavour continues when you taste it neat, with the juniper still very clear alongside smooth almond notes coming through and a light citrus edge which keeps it very refreshing. Mix it with tonic (I’ve been choosing to go with Fever Tree mediterranean tonic) and a slice of lemon, and you’ve got a beautifully balanced G&T.
I love that you’ve chosen botanicals like foraged Scots pine needles to reflect the Cairngorms and celebrate the area that inspired your gin. How long did it take you to create the recipe for Snawstorm?
LC: From the offset we knew that we wanted to create a gin with an abundance of juniper and citrus making a clean, balanced and refreshing spirit. The recipe used in the end was a combination of our 10th and 11th recipes, we were very happy with it and the feedback was very positive all round.
There are thousands of Scots pine trees located around our home and surrounding countryside and we actually have several in our own garden which I recently employed a tree surgeon to tidy up a little.
The freshly sawn branches containing thousands of needles were fed through a chipping machine for composting/disposal and the smell of fresh piney citrus filling the garden was unbelievable so when it came to our recipe development, they seemed like an obvious choice and a great starting point as a key botanical!
Scottish Pine trees are the only native pine trees in the UK with species in Scotland having pollen records dating back thousands of years. The trees became extinct in most parts of the British Isles apart from Scotland. They deliver sweet and citrus notes to perfectly compliment the juniper, fresh lime peel, and dried orange.
Your gin is distilled at Lost Loch Distillery, how important was it for you that your gin was still distilled near to the Cairngorms?
We conveniently found an existing local distillery from where we could develop and contract distil our products. We had a couple of concepts on the table but really wanted something that evoked the Scottish landscape and suggests a cold and refreshing serve. The water used in making our spirits is one of the purest in the world and emerges from natural in springs in the Cairngorms national park. It all fits together pretty well.
In an area more well known for its whisky than its gin, you join a small but growing group of gins really putting it on the map for other spirits – Kinrara, Daffy’s, Caorunn, Avva, Red Door and more. How does it feel to be joining that group?
Our vodka was inspired by the rich distilling heritage of the Speyside region I’ve grown up in, and is famous for producing some the finest whiskies in the world. The malted barley spirit found in our spirits is sourced from one of these very distilleries and adds to our great flavour profile. There are some great gins around so of course its great to be joining them.
What’s your favourite cocktail to make with your gin and why?
Following on from the recent Negroni week we tried a couple for ourselves and found our gin to pair really well with the other ingredients [bitters and vermouth]. Our gin has a strong juniper backbone with fresh citrus notes. From the offset and most importantly for us it had to make a great G&T!
Why is International Scottish Gin Day important and what other Scottish gins are your favourites?
With the majority of the UK’s gin being produced in Scotland and many having found a place on the world stage it’s important that producers both big and small are recognised for their contribution to the category. Events such as ISGD are a great way for everyone to get involved in celebrating the nation’s great products and their brands as they continue to evolve. I’m a fan of Kinrara, they have a nice range of products which all taste great.
What’s next in store for Snawstorm Gin and the Speyside Vodka Co?
We’re pretty small scale and are slowly growing our brand and range of products. Having only recently launched our gin it will be into next year before we add anything else to our range. I actually have a limited edition release in the pipeline but you will have to wait a little while for that one…
You can find out more about Snawstorm Spirits and order your own bottle on their website.
Read more of my International Scottish Gin Day features including Isle of Harris gin, Arbikie’s Nadar gin, and more.