The Bothy Experience

Gin Intro

As you can tell from the highlights I LOVE Gin Bothy. I hadn’t heard of them until itsascottishginthing recommend them on Instagram- they commented on my gin tour post – and by coincidence a few weeks later we met Kim in person at the Game Fair.

After talking to Kim and hearing just a snippet of her story, it was an absolute must to make a stop here on our way up to Aviemore.

What I type I am afraid, will never do it justice but I will try my best. The soul behind The Gin Bothy, is Kim herself. She is an amazing woman, whose journey into gin, by her own admission was an accident.

In 2013 Kim was making award winning jam in a Bothy (more on a bothy later) using fruits from Scotland (the local larder Kim calls it) and recipes handed down over her families history.

Being very conscious about waste, she wanted to do something with the fruit pulp often left from making jam. Her mother suggested doing what her mother before her had always done, added it to gin, and so that’s just what she did. The Jam Bothy, became the Gin Bothy.

Kim took her gin & jam to a food festival and after having to drive miles back and forth to fill up her supply twice realised she was on to something.

The Bothy Gin is made from botanicals sourced as much as possible from the local area – such as Heather, Scots Pine, Marshmallow Root. From the Land – For the Land being their moto. Often her recipes and ideas come from the stories and culture from her local area. Of course local juniper very scarce in Scotland, and you need a lot of it, so off Kim went and travelled to Italy to meet and ensure she was working with the best artisans growers.

She has come a long way since making jam, something she seems amazed about, but with her team of 14 woman – all with the same passion and drive, it won’t be long before she will need to move her story on, but her roots will always be the same.

The Tour 5⭐️

The gin is made in a Bothy a few miles up the road, but due to its size no tours were allowed. So not to be deterred, Kim created The Bothy Experience. It’s something very different than any other tour, it’s much more. Located in the village of Glamis, just after the famous Glamis Castle.

Firstly, let me briefly explain what a bothy is. A bothy is a small stone building. They are a refuge on the hills, a place where travellers converge and hip flasks are passed around – a place of stories. You can explore them more here.

The Bothy Experience, shares these stories, songs and history. Kim has a great passion to make sure this history is not lost, and the site is open Thursday – Sunday and is FREE to stop and visit.

It’s a very different tour as it’s a self guided tour through three rooms. The Bothy Beginnings room, where you can read the history of The Gin Bothy, and gin itself. Second room is The Bothy Tales Room, where you can read and listen to the history of the a bothy, and read some stories of The Guardians of the land, the amazing men who work and live in the hills – Gamekeepers, foresters etc. And lastly the two Tasting rooms – The stable and The Byre.

There is always someone on hand to answer any question and talk to you, but with up to 200 visitors sometimes popping by, this way of sharing the stories of both the bothy and The Gin Bothy works really well. We were very lucky and privileged however, to be given a special tour by Kim. Hearing first hand the passion and the love for the land, the history and her business was actually really quite emotional.