There are 9 botanicals in each edition of Pickering's: juniper, coriander, cardamom, angelica (cinnamon in the 1947 gin), fennel, anise, lemon, lime and cloves.

They are carefully prepared and measured.

Then they're added to the grain spirit in one of Pickering's 500 litre copper stills.

These curvaceous dames are named Gert and Emily, after the founders' maternal great-grandmothers.

(Rumours that these ladies were also fat and smelt of gin are roundly refuted.)

Tasting Notes:

Pickering's Gin is based on an old Bombay recipe, handwritten on a fragment of paper dated 17 July 1947. Kept as a family secret for over 66 years, it only resurfaced in 2013 when Pickering's began distilling at Summerhall, right in the heart of Edinburgh.

By the time they launched in 2014 they had fine-tuned the recipe, perfecting its balance of botanicals and tweaking it to the contemporary palate. The result is a spectacularly smooth, refreshing and flavoursome gin.

Fresh, light and bold flavours of citrus and juniper give way to intense warming spice of cardamom, coriander seed and clove.

Recommended serve: with ice, tonic and a slice of pink grapefruit.

70 cl / 42% Vol.

About the smoothness:

The secret to Pickering's gin's smoothness is the stills' ingenious, custom-designed bain marie heating system. This means the botanicals enjoy a slow luxurious simmer, which coaxes out their subtle, soft, highly drinkable flavours.