Porter’s Gin

A crisp and clean Gin deploying the best of new sciences applied to old world techniques.

In 2009, Ben Iravani opened a trendy bar in Aberdeen, Scotland. Even as that business flourished, he had dreams of something more. Alex Lawrence joined the bar team and shared the passion for crafting a custom Spirit. Soon they had recruited a local friend — Josh Rennie — to join them. And after years of experimentation they came up with their ideal recipe of botanicals infusions and a unique method to extract them using cold vacuum distillation to avoid heating up the ingredients. They were helped to create their special vacuum still by Professor Andrew Porter of the University of Aberdeen and named their Spirit after him.

Porter’s Gin is open about how they make their Spirits. The base comes from G&L Distillers near Manchester and arrives with the fundamental Gin infusions in place, including juniper, coriander seed, angelica, licorice, citrus zest, almond, and cinnamon. Once back at the lab in Aberdeen, Ben and crew use their custom vacuum still to add pink peppercorn, cassia, and Buddah’s hand — a rare Asian citrus fruit with spindly fingers-like lobes.

Smartass corner:
The evaporation and boiling point of any liquid are a function of temperature and pressure. Vacuum distillation lowers the air pressure until the boiling point drops to ambient air temp. Porter’s Gin uses this process to prevent "cooking" certain botanicals during infusion.