Lind & Lime take us on their new Leith gin distillery tour

The new Lind & Lime distillery, which Stirling, 39, owns with his life-long friend and business partner, Paddy Fletcher, 40, is box fresh.

“We’ve literally just opened,” he says. “If any of you remember Challenge Anneka in the Nineties, the last few days have been just like that”.

There’s the charcoal and blue exterior of the Coburg Street venue, and, just inside, their shop, where you can invest in various drinks under their Muckle Brig corporate identity and The Leith Export Co trading arm. Alongside books on booze, the merch includes sherry and port from Port of Leith Distillery, as well as La Garde Ecossaise Champagne, and that increasingly cult four-year-old gin in its ridged bottle, which even features on a snazzy T-shirt.

Eventually, there will be blended Scotch in here, since their vertical Port of Leith whisky distillery beside Ocean Terminal Shopping Centre is due to open relatively soon.

Wine is on the cards too.

Their business is expanding rapidly, and this new premises is an upgrade from their original Tower Street Distillery.

We’re here for their 75-minute tour, which takes place on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at various times.

The experience starts in a low-fi manner, beside the prop that is a navy dresser, where Stirling can tell us about the origins of their invention.

“When we set out we thought the world didn’t need another gin”, he says. “There was pineapple, raspberry and weird and wonderful flavours out there. However, we wanted one that set a benchmark for London dry gin and that’s the seed of what we do”.

They also wanted to celebrate their neighbourhood.

As Stirling says, “Leith was for centuries Scotland’s gateway to the world. In the 20th century, all Scottish trade passed through here”.