It's that time of year when the fields and moors of Uist burst into bloom, the beautiful botanicals that bring that burst of island flavour to Downpour gin are ready to forage, and we look forward to bartering flowers and berries for gin with our fabulous customers! 

The season starts with wild thyme, which grows in low clumps in the rocky cutaways along the roadsides, bringing the first splash of summer purple to the island, and the delicious herbal balance to Downpour Coast and Croft. 

Then comes the bell heather, in unmistakably vibrant magenta clumps, heralding that heather season is here. Bell is fast followed by ling heather, a more subdued but much more prolific plant, covering the moors in a blanket of dusty purple. Both bell and ling heather go into Downpour Scottish Dry Gin, creating the unique taste of island life distilled that our flagship gin is known and loved for.

Finally, the season wraps up with the brambles that weigh down the rambling, prickly bushes that fill ditches and scramble over hillsides, announcing that autumn is here and bringing ripe, juicy, and tart berry flavours to our Downpour Sloe and Bramble.

Each batch of our gin that is made with foraged botanicals is named for the location on the island that those botanicals were collected, which is then handwritten on the bottle's tamper seal, making sure that the provenance of each delicious bottle we produce is honoured. 

We love meeting the Downpour fans that have foraged for botanicals, and swapping those botanicals for gin in the time honoured island bartering tradition is one of our favourite parts of the Downpour process. 

 It's important to us that best foraging practises are followed to protect the beautiful plants that are so important to not only our spirits, but the island's ecosystem. There are also a few guidelines for making sure that what you forage is suitable for our distilling process. 

Wild Hebridean Gin Botanical Foraging Guidelines

• Remove no more than 10% of the growth from any one plant 
• Remove flowers with scissors or gently with your hands, never pull plants up by the roots 
• With heather, we only want the flowers and we need them to be fully open (employ the sniff test if you are unsure, if you can't smell the sweet honey fragrance then it's not ready yet!)
• With wild thyme, we need the flowers and the foliage but as this is a very low growing plant it's extra important to make sure you do not pull it up by the roots
• Be tick aware. The moors are an excellent place to pick up these unwanted passengers, so long sleeves and trousers are recommended, and please make sure to check your nooks and crannies at the end of the day 
• Botanicals can be delivered to our visitor centre at Nunton and if you aren't delivering them within hours of picking them, please freeze them in a plastic bag with the air squeezed out until you can get them to us
• Make sure your botanicals are clearly labelled with the location they were gathered

Barter Your Botanicals for Gin 

Wild Thyme 

Heather

Brambles