A TRIP THROUGH THE COLDEST GIN-PRODUCING PLACES ON EARTH

You may be freezing in the UK’s dead of winter, but for some people, the weather you’re experiencing would seem rather warm. Here’s a list of some of the coldest - yet strikingly beautiful - places on Earth where gin is produced. 

ICELAND - MARTIN MILLER'S GIN

Martin Miller’s may be an established English gin brand, but it’s uniqueness comes from the Icelandic water it puts in its gin. Chances are, the independently owned brand is not sourcing water from the northern part of the island in the winter - temperatures average -10 °C. The south  maintains a balmy 0 °C average temperature. But wherever you are in the country, you can always warm up by finding one of the island’s famous geo-thermal pools. 

Chicago - Few Spirits and koval distillery

Known for its Blues culture, deep dish pizzas and world’s once-most-tallest building, Chicago is notorious for brutally cold winters and economy-stalling storms. The average annual snowfall is 38.7 inches and the average temperature in winter is -4 °C. Somehow in that frigid climate, the city’s small-batch distiller, Few Spirits, manages to churn out its gins and whiskies, establishing itself as a London bartender’s favourite with Koval not far behind.  

Canada's Ungava Bay - Ungava Gin

Canada already has an immediate reputation for its cold climate. What happens when you go to one of the country’s most northern points to make gin? Ungava Gin uses botanicals sourced from northern Quebec’s Ungava Bay area which averages -20 °C in the winter. Exotic-sounding botanicals like Crowberry and Wild Rose Hips may make you think you’re drinking from the tropics, but Ungava comes from the tundra. It even takes its name from an Inuit word that means “towards the open water”.

Harnosand, Sweden - Herno Gin

Sweden’s archipelagos shine in the sunny summertime. But as the world turns, so does the climate. Herno Gin comes from the small town of Harnosand on the coast of northern Sweden, about 370 km from Stockholm. Temperatures in Northern Sweden drop to below -30 °C in the winter time, enough to freeze a barrel of Herno Gin’s Juniper Cask Gin!