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Outlander star’s gin trials like “meth lab”, says Heughan
Sam Heughan, star of Outlander and founder of Sassenach Spirits, has compared the tasting process in creating his gin to being a “mad scientist” in a “meth lab”.
Sam Heughan, who has played character Jamie Fraser in Outlander for 10 years, launched his Sassenach Spirits venture with a Scotch whisky in 2020 before branching out into Tequila and gin.
In June, the drinks business reported that Sam Heughan was taking his Sassenach Wild Scottish Gin to the US, with the actor urging Americans to “stock up” for their 4th July celebrations.
Now the actor has spoken about the experience of tasting different botanicals to settle on the gin’s final recipe.
“I love it, it’s very creative, I get to be a mad professor with gin trying different botanicals,” Heughan told the Scottish Daily Express. “I distilled over 40 variations and individually tried them at home.”
“It was kind of like a meth lab in my house. I had a great time.”
Heughan said he tried “everything from seaweed to blackberries, to thistles and then we brought it down to our top 12, and for weeks I was literally making gin and tonics, leaving them out and seeing what it was like. I really tried everything, I wanted to make this gin stand up, not only on it’s own but in a cocktail.”
The final formula includes heather, wild Scottish apples, pine resin and toasted oats, all of which, Heughan says, are “botanicals synonymous with Scotland” but which “people may not be familiar with”.
According to Sassenach Spirits, botanicals for Heughan’s gin are sourced from the Dumfries and Galloway regions of Scotland, where the star grew up. He worked with Craig Rankin at Crafty Distillery to produce the gin, with both striving towards the goal of creating a spirit that captured “the local wild larder”.
As well as the botanicals mentioned above, Sassenach Wild Scottish Gin also includes Scottish juniper, rhubarb, bramble leaf and blaeberry.
Heughan recommends serving the spirit in a gin and tonic, garnished with a slice of apple. Sassenach Wild Scottish Gin retails for around £40.50 per bottle in the UK, placing it in the premium gin category at a similar price point to the likes of Isle of Harris Gin and Monkey 47 Dry Gin.
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