Product Guru Supplier Focus | Into the World of The Secret Garden

Tell us about the company, Karen. 

The Secret Garden was founded in May 2014 by former wine merchant and herbologist, Hamish Martin and his wife, Liberty. They secured a 7.5-acre plot of land at the foot of the Pentlands Hills, Edinburgh with the dream of bringing to life the magic of nature.

 The garden is Hamish’s passion, and he established The Secret Garden Distillery in 2017. The Distillery uses 100% natural ingredients to craft their gin range. There are no added sugars, artificial colourings, flavourings or additives.

Who do you sell your products to?
 
We sell our Secret Garden gin range to luxury retailers such as Harrods and Harvey Nichols, as well as speciality retailers such as Dobbie’s and online through Amazon, Whisky Exchange and our own website.

 How many people work for the business?

There is a team of 17 people working across the Distillery and Garden teams.

Is there a specific product you're particularly proud of and why?
 
Wild plants are our passion, and therefore Wild Gin is the product we are most proud of.  The Secret Garden ‘Wild Gin Made with Organic Spirit’ celebrates all that is wild and is inspired by the natural herbs and plants of Scotland. The spirit is crafted with the wild botanicals harvested from the Distillery’s award-winning Secret Garden, where the plants grow freely in raised beds to encourage wildlife and for their colonies of honeybees. The ingredients are hand harvested, dried naturally, and infused with a blend of Organic spirit to bring the unique herbaceous London Dry gin to life. 
 
We have also recently re-branded moving from Old Curiosity Distillery to Secret Garden Distillery. As part of the move, we re-designed our packaging.  Sustainability and natural production are key values of The Secret Garden Distillery, and this has been reflected in the new packaging design. The labels on the neck, front and back are made from 30% grass, meaning that the paper production process reduces energy consumption by 97%, water consumption by 99% and 20% less CO2 production. Additionally, the corks will move to being made from natural micro-granules, a sustainable, natural source and the security seal is completely biodegradable. 

 What can you tell us about Hamish Martin, the Founding Director of Secret Garden Distillery?

 
Hamish’s passion is nature. He spends his spare time in the garden and is even known to take part in some Wild swimming.