Where To Drink Great G&Ts This Month

Popular with bartenders across the capital, The Botanist Gin is distilled and crafted at Bruichladdich Distillery on Islay, Scotland, using 22 foraged island botanicals. The team’s professional forager, James Donaldson, hand-picks the botanicals for the gin throughout spring, summer and autumn. They are then dried before being slow-simmer distilled with pure Islay spring water. The result? A gin that highlights the locality and seasonality of Islay – and works just as well in a G&T as it does in cocktails such as martinis, Tom Collins and a French 75.

In 2020, Bruichladdich Distillery was the first whisky and gin distilling company in Europe to become a certified B Corporation. That means it adheres to the highest levels of social and environmental performance, public transparency and accountability.

In partnership with Good News – a space that champions brands and uses businesses as a force for good – The Botanist Gin is taking part in London’s only B Corp pop-up shop. Running throughout March, the pop-up showcases over 100 brands including the likes of Ella's Kitchen, AllPlants, Jude's, Dash Water, Vita Coco, Divine Chocolate, Bruichladdich Distillery’s Classic Laddie and – of course – The Botanist Gin. 

Focusing on purpose over profit, no products will be sold. Instead the space will tell the story of these brands that benefit people and the planet, inviting guests to uncover what underpins a B Corp and better business. Visitors can expect to find a free vending machine from Healthy Nibbles that uses social media as its currency and sustainably sourced coffee from Origin. 

10a Rathbone Place, Fitzrovia, W1T 1HP; Monday-Saturday, 10am-6pm

Visit BCorporation.uk

For those in search of an al fresco drinking spot to welcome the warmer months, The Botanist Gin is taking over Dalloway Terrace, one of London’s most popular outdoor restaurants. Until May, guests visiting the terrace can enjoy a springtime drinks menu featuring cocktails from The Botanist Gin, Bruichladdich Whisky and Remy Martin, alongside a herbal afternoon tea, designed to pair with the brand’s botanical cocktails. 

The drinks – which all use ingredients foraged from the English countryside – include the ‘Islay Martini’ (The Botanist Gin, citrus oleo-saccharum and rosemary oil); the ‘Dalloway Collins’ (The Botanist Gin, earl grey syrup, lemon juice and mandarin foam); and the ‘Belle Highball’ (Belle de Brillet, clementine juice and Saicho sparkling tea).

Sweet and savoury creations include carrot cake with tarragon and crème cheese mousse; white chocolate, lemon and thyme cream on pistachio sponge; and saffron custard tart with Campari-poached rhubarb. Sandwich selections include marinated cucumber and cream cheese on spinach bread; poached salmon and crème fraîche on malted cocoa bread; and devilled-egg mayonnaise on a colourful brioche bun.

16-22 Great Russell Street, Bloomsbury, WC1B 3NN

Visit DallowayTerrace.com

The Botanist Gin and Bruichladdich Whisky have joined forces with NIO Cocktails to create a limited-edition collection of four ready-to-serve letterbox drinks. We like the sound of ‘The Botanist’s Choice’, a light, floral cocktail with notes of elderflower and chamomile; the classic ‘Botanist Martini’; and the refreshing ‘Laddie Sour’, a mix of Bruichladdich’s Classic Laddie, tangy citrus and a hint of ginger. Best of all, £1 from every cocktail sold will be donated to The Drinks Trust, a charity helping hospitality professionals. 

Visit NIOCocktails.co.uk

For more information and to buy a bottle of gin, visit TheBotanist.com and follow the brand at @TheBotanistUK on Instagram.

Shop The Botanist Gin at Amazon.co.uk or in store at Waitrose.