The university has teamed up with Porter’s Gin with proceeds going to support students in financial difficulty.
To commemorate its 525th birthday, Aberdeen University has partnered with local gin firm Porter’s Gin to create a limited edition drink, with the cash raised going to help students in need.
Developed by incorporating botanicals from the university’s Cruickshank Botanical Gardens, there are only 525 bottles available, with the tipple tipped to soon be a collector’s item.
Proceeds from sales of the 525 Gin will go towards the 525 Bursary Fund, set up as part of the University’s birthday celebrations to support students who are in financial difficulty.
Mark Paterson, curator at the university’s Cruickshank Botanic Garden describes how they chose the botanicals that deemed fit for the gin.
He said: “The concept behind the creation of the gin recipe was to work with the range of flora grown at Cruickshank Botanic Garden and identify and distil a key botanical that was in use during each of the seven centuries since 1495.
“We have included pear from the 15th century, myrtle from the 16th, apple from the 17th, heather from the 18th, dandelion from the 19th, sage from the 20th and nettle from the 21st century.”
Porter’s Gin, which is part-distilled in Aberdeen cocktail bar Orchid, was founded by university graduates Ben Iravani and Josh Rennie, and has quickly become a global success story.
Ben Iravani said: “We met while studying at the university in 2003 and have so many happy memories of our time at Aberdeen, so we are delighted to work with them and to be able to help provide support to students by contributing to the 525 Bursary Fund.
“When we developed the 525 Gin we wanted to work with Mark Paterson at Cruickshank to produce an exceptional gin that reflects the history of the university and we are all extremely proud of the final product.
Was an honour to collab on this bottle with @AbdnUniAlumni @aberdeenuni https://t.co/cGAuo8XSmC
— Porter's Gin (@portersgin) December 8, 2020
“The university has such a rich history of botany and we’re really happy to have been able to work on this project to bring to life a product which celebrates this legacy.
“Balancing botanicals to create a refined, new gin recipe isn’t an easy task, but it’s what we do at Porter’s. We use our own custom-built vacuum still which distils botanicals at a low temperature so we can retain the flavours that can be lost when distilling at higher temperatures.”
As the number of bottles is limited, only three will be allocated per person. A bottle is priced at £39 and those looking to get their hands on one can register their interest here to purchase on December 11 before it goes on sale to the public next week here.
Professor George Boyne, vice chancellor and principal of the university added: “We are all extremely proud of our history at the university and our 525 celebrations reflect both that pride and our vision for the future.
“The launch of our Aberdeen 2040 strategy at the beginning of our 525th year set out our commitment towards sustaining our contribution to the success of Aberdeen and the surrounding region so we are delighted to work with Porter’s on this inspiring project.
In celebration of our 525th anniversary, we've teamed up with award-winning distillers Porter’s Gin to create a Limited Edition 525 University of Aberdeen Gin.
Pre-Sale registration is now open at https://t.co/NLhxx6ORzO with proceeds going towards our 525 hardship fund. pic.twitter.com/9lCZO9r3nO— University of Aberdeen (@aberdeenuni) December 8, 2020
“The measure of a university includes looking at the success of its alumni, and the team at Porter’s Gin is an excellent example of one of the many success stories that have grown from the university community.”
Other celebrations commemorating the special occasion throughout the year include a host of 525 themed events, an ambitious campaign to recognise 525 exceptional university alumni, the introduction of the 525 Bursary Fund, and now the launch of a local gin.
The gin is a 70cl bottle at 42% ABV and each bottle comes numbered.
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