Tulchan, the Speyside gin for whisky drinkers

May 25, 2023

Tulchan Gin has launched in Australia, bringing its proud Scottish roots to our shores in the form of a super-premium gin from one of the world's distilling capitals, Speyside.

Tulchan Gin hails from the Tulchan Estate, 22,000 acres of lochs and glen with eight miles of the River Spey, located in the heart of Speyside. It is a gin that has been crafted with whisky drinkers and gin lovers in mind and really draws on its Scottish identity through the botanicals in the gin and an outstandingly Scottish bottle.

Brand Lead Kara Anderson, told The Shout: "Tulchan is made in Speyside and I think that's a real differentiator, it really separates us. Speyside is for me, and many others, the epitome of distilling heritage. There's been nearly 200 years of making all kinds of spirits in Speyside, not just whisky, but they do make some of the best Scotch whiskies in the world. It's just perfect real estate to make spirits and in particular whisky and gin."

Tulchan is a London Dry-style gin, so it's a juniper-forward gin with lots of citrus notes, but there are 14 botanicals in the gin, and Kara added: "The ones that really stand out for me are the ones that are inspired by what's growing naturally in the Tulchan Estate and Speyside.

"There is bramble leaf, bramble is the Scottish word for blackberry, plus there's elderflower, sloe berries and then our juniper. So it has a jammy, fruitiness which I think differentiates it too. But also because we steep the botanicals and distil really slowly you get really fresh notes of those jammy botanicals.

"For me it's similar to whisky because, if you know your Speyside whisky, you know they tend to be fruit forward, they tend to be quite light and they tend to be quite smooth and really approachable. Now, Tulchan in no way tastes like a whisky, but if you characterise that flavour journey that Tulchan takes you on it's very similar to a Speyside Scotch."

Kara refers to Tulchan as ‘the gin from whisky country’ and does have a theory on why this gin will appeal to whisky drinkers.

"What I’ve found all over the world is that whisky drinkers tend to have a gin and tonic at the start of the night either to cleanse their palate or because they don't want to go on to straight whisky right away. Or they’ll have one halfway through the night when they want something a bit lighter. So that's my theory that Scotch drinkers will have a gin and tonic and they tend to have a bottle of gin at home, so I think Tulchan goes hand-in-hand with that."

So how are people drinking Tulchan gin and how will Australia's bartenders use the spirit?

"I really wanted to heighten those more Scottish botanicals in Tulchan," Kara said, "And bramble is also one of my favourite flavours, so I’ve done a twist on a Negroni called a Hedgerow Negroni. That's your classic Negroni measures but with a bar spoon of either Scottish blackberry jam or blackberry liqueur and it's delicious.

She added: "Tulchan is 45 per cent, but because we keep the pressure super low when we distil, it takes over eight hours to distil it and this gives the gin a really smooth, smooth finish. So a lot of bartenders I have spoken to say when they taste it, that they know it is going to work well in cocktails, because it's 45 per cent, it's juniper-forward and quite citrusy it can stand up to big flavours.

"I’ve looked around a few bars here and I think what I’ve learned is that Australians have a bit of a sweeter palate, which I think is really good because Tulchan stands up to sugar and not many gins do. You can balance it really easily, especially when you’re putting a lot more syrups in and have more sugar-forward cocktails, so I hope it's really going to be appreciated here.

"The bars here are amazing and I’m excited to see what they do with Tulchan. Obviously gin is huge here and it does tend to be quite fruit-forward, floral cocktails, but I’d love to see more of those hard-hitting and traditional cocktails. I often say to bartenders think what you’d do with a Speyside whisky and then do that with this gin because it stands up that well."

Tulchan Gin is available now through Amber Beverages in a brilliantly Scottish bottle which is blue to reflect the River Spey, with bespoke Tulchan tartan on the side and proper cork stopper complete with thistle – oh and don't forget the grouse piper on the label.

Andy joined Intermedia as Editor of TheShout in 2015, writing news on a daily basis and also writing features for National Liquor News. Now Managing Editor of both TheShout and Bars and Clubs. More by Andy Young