A Loch Ness couple have launched Scotland’s first absinthe blanche using botanicals, including wormwood, juniper and mint hand-picked from around their 500-year-old ancestral home.
The couple, Lorien and Kevin Cameron-Ross, creators of Loch Ness Gin, developed the recipe for Loch Ness Absinthe following a trip to the birthplace of the spirit, Val-de-Travers in Switzerland.
It was there Lorien learned to fine-tune the craft of making absinthe which was first used as a medicinal remedy by French doctor Pierre Ordinaire in the 1790s.
It was best known as absinthe verte, ‘the green drink’, popular in the late 19th and early 20th century among artists and writers in Paris, including Vincent Van Gogh and Ernest Hemingway.
Lorien said: “We felt there was gap in the market for an absinthe blanche in Scotland, a drink I really enjoy, so decided to put the wheels in motion last year and began to research its history and fully understand the craft of creating and distilling it.”
The couple are firm believers in mindful drinking, ‘drink less – enjoy yourself more’, and recommend that Loch Ness Absinthe, which has an ABV of 53% against 72% in absinthe verte, should be enjoyed slowly as an aperitif.
The ideal measurement is with one-part absinthe, in a glass with three parts iced water, which dilutes the spirit and releases a mix of herbal aromas and flavours, poured over a sugar cube cradled in a silver spoon balanced on top of the rim, resulting in a magical opalescent haze.
Lorien continued: “I’ve worked really hard to get the recipe for our latest product, Loch Ness Absinthe exactly the way I wanted and in the process perfected the art of distilling it to get the exact results I was looking for.
“With the help and support of Kevin, I’ve created a drink that I’m really pleased with, leading to us to drive our plans forward to launch even more products in the near future that will continue to be inspired by the loch and the land around us.”
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