Gin Blackwood's Strong 60%Vol. (Scotland)

The first known inhabitants of Shetland came at the end of the 3rd millennium B.C. They are believed to have come from somewhere in the eastern Mediterranean.

They were followed in the Bronze Age by the Beaker Folk and in the Iron Age the Pictish arrived. Shetland houses the highest number of Brochs (Pictish fortresses) in Scotland so it is believed that at one point there was a sizable population.

The Vikings (Norsemen, to be politically correct) arrived in Shetland in the 9th Century and colonized our islands as part of a mass migration. There are stories of fights between the Pictish people and the Norsemen but the evidence is to the contrary as there have been very few weapons found and most of the place names have Norse origins rather than Celtic.

Blackwood Distillers was originally founded in July 2002 to build Shetland's first whisky distillery - Shetland is the last region of Scotland to make whisky.

In October 2003 they brought to market three premium white spirits drinks: JAGOs vanilla vodka cream (17% abv,), Blackwood's Vintage Dry Gin (40% abv) and Blackwood's Premium Nordic Vodka (40% abv).

In 2005 we launched three further white spirits drinks: Blackwood's Vintage 60 (our lovely gin at 60% abv), JAGOs Love (17% abv, a limited edition strawberry version of JAGOs) and DIVA Vodka (40% abv, containing a wand of sparkling Swarovski crystals).

Blackwood Distillers make Blackwood's Vintage Dry Gin with hand-harvested Shetland botanicals.

Local crofters harvest their Shetland botanicals each summer, roughly between June and September (depends on when summer comes, and whether it's warm and dry like 2003 or cool and wet and windy like 2005) in proportions that do not disturb the fragile local habitat.

They have a sustainable harvesting programme to ensure harmony with Shetland's unspoilt environment. The sustainable sourcing and harvesting was developed with us by Highland Natural Products, FWAG and the Orkney Agronomy College.

The plants are brought down to the mainland of Scotland to be gently small-batch distilled.

Blackwood's is truly the essence of Shetland, and the world's only handpicked gin.