SLTN’s Craft Spirits Enthusiast Lachlan Rooney creates ‘Spruce Almighty’
EDINBURGH bartender Lachlan Rooney got the chance to create his own gin in St Andrews last week as part of his 2017 SLTN Craft Spirits Enthusiast Award, in association with Eden Mill.
Lachlan, bar manager at The Voodoo Rooms in Edinburgh, was at Eden Mill’s Blendworks gin experience at the Macdonald Rusacks Hotel with SLTN to concoct his spirit – an additional prize from Eden Mill, which supports the SLTN Craft Spirits Enthusiast Award.
After an introduction to Blendworks and Eden Mill and its range of gins by tutor Charlie Fletcher, Lachlan got to work, beginning with a blind tasting before nosing and tasting a range of ingredients to decide the flavour profile for his gin.
A fan of citrusy gins, his recipe featured orange and lemon peel; and, on top of juniper berry and coriander seed, other botanicals featured in his gin included elderberry, beeswax, goji berry, cassia bark, grains of paradise and spruce. He built the blend in a glass for a final taste test before scaling up the recipe.
Lachlan then bottled his 42% ABV gin, which he named Spruce Almighty, and labelled and signed each of the three 200ml bottles.
Speaking to SLTN, Lachlan said the visit to Eden Mill’s Blendworks was a “fantastic experience”.
“It was amazing,” he said.
“I like citrusy gins but the flavour the spruce gave it was quite unique; it had a really interesting profile.
“We had it in a G&T and made Martinis with it; I was really pleased with it.
“And to get to take bottles of the gin that I made away was great; it’s very personal.
“The whole experience was brilliant.”
