As many of you saw, I was lucky enough to be invited up to Aberdeen for the launch of LoneWolf Spirits last month. An unforgettable experience, meeting the amazing team of Lone Wolves and seeing a superbly impressive brewery and distillery.

For those of you who aren’t aware, LoneWolf Spirits is the “sister” to BrewDog, the famously popular craft beer company – who over the past 10 years have gone from strength to strength and led the way in the craft beer revolution.

While I knew it was going to be one hell of a set up, nothing could prepare me for the grand tour. Managing Director Doug Bairner showed us the journey from grain to glass. His love and enthusiasm for the brand and the product was infectious. He explained the LoneWolf spirit starts life as a 50/50 mix of wheat and barley. Using some traditional, and some unique equipment – it goes from about 10,000 litres of wash to about 4000 litres of beautiful clear spirit. A finale of awesome botanicals are added to the vodka and distilled to create our Gin of the Month.

I make that sound like a very easy process and I can assure it’s not!  But not only is the liquid amazing, what struck me more was the brand. BrewDog’s company ethics have been distilled and bottled to give us a standalone beast, capable howling it’s way to the top of a saturated market… and my god are we excited!

The tour concluded with the brilliant Master Distiller Steven Kersley, who we caught up with last week to ask the Gin of the Month questions…here’s what he had to say…
Give us an overview of LoneWolf…

“LoneWolf Spirits has come to life over the last two years. In that time we’ve taken the initial design drawings on my A3 sketch book and created the most versatile still house in the UK. We’ve experimented with over 80 individual botanicals and have experimented with over 190 different distillations. LoneWolf exists to put craftsmanship back into spirits, we are custodians of our liquid’s creation at every single step and we are obsessive over every detail.

LoneWolf was born to forge its own path; we have no constraints, we will be experimental and we’re just getting started.”

Describe the LoneWolf Gin in three words

“Juniper-forward, truthful and self-assured”

How should LoneWolf Gin best be enjoyed?

“For the best LoneWolf and Tonic we weren’t willing to compromise on flavour at any stage of its creation. So we went about designing a tonic water to perfectly complement our LoneWolf gin. Our LoneWolf Tonic’s citrus base is made up from; natural lemon, grapefruit, and lime which heightens the fresh citrus peels in our gin. They battle against the juniper to create an awesome LoneWolf and Tonic
Punchy pine, resinous juniper and bright citrus makes for a gin that holds its own alongside the Campari and sweet vermouth in a Negroni. This is my absolute favourite cocktail and I’d usually go for equal measures but doubling up on LoneWolf gin is also advised. In a rocks glass, one large cube of ice with peel from a Valencia Orange to garnish is epic.”

What’s the plan for LoneWolf over the next 12 months?

“Relentless effort in the still house. We have some exciting projects in the pipeline which we want to get to work on. Some gin related, some not. Our still house allows us to play on any style of spirit that we want. Whisky will be an upcoming and ongoing focus which we’re now in a position to start thinking about seriously.”
What are you waiting for?! Head over to their website, so visit your nearest BrewDog to have a taste!