When life gives you lemons, make lemonade. It’s an old phrase used to encourage some positivity and optimism when times are tough.
After the last 18 months, it’s fair to say life has given us all more than our fair share of lemons. And, whilst we can’t do lemonade, we can do gin. So we did.
Introducing Lemon Fest – our annual festive gin, straight from the still at Saxa Vord Distillery.
Why Lemon? Well, it features in many of our award-winning Shetland Reel family – Ocean Sent and Original to name a few. It’s one of our unsung heroes and we felt bad that it was always in the background.
So, we decided to change that. This Christmas – is it too early to mention that word? – we’re giving Lemon the credit it deserves. The starring role in our annual festive creation.
To add to the festivities, we’ve also included a little sprinkle of cinnamon to create another unique addition to the Shetland Reel range.
The Shetland Serve
The result offers a fresh lemon serve, with a hint of warming winter spices and piney juniper on the nose. Perfect for getting into the festive spirit.
As always, we recommend pairing Lemon Fest with Fever-Tree’s premium Indian tonic water. To garnish, add some lemon. Use a peel, a wheel or even a slice to finish – go wherever the lemon takes you.
Candles and gin: The perfect winter pairing
Following the success of our Gin Bean Bundles, we have teamed up with Mella – a handmade soap company based locally in Unst – to create a bespoke Lemon Fest Bundle.
Our latest partnership with a fellow Shetland business, the bundle includes a unique candle which offers a clean and refreshing fragrance with a sweet citrus and zesty aroma.
Hand-poured just a mile from the distillery in Haroldswick, the candles are sustainably made using vegan wax and cotton wick. It’s also packaged in a recyclable aluminium tin.
Melanie Moua - who established Mella Handmade Soap in 2016 - shared her excitement to be working with the Shetland Reel team, highlighting the importance of being kind to your neighbours:
“Running a small business in Shetland can be challenging and lonely at times, Mella Handmade Soap is a one-woman show, so when the opportunity comes up to work with another small business, I jumped at it!
Working with other small brands just makes perfect sense to me, there are so many benefits to working together, sharing ideas, promoting and supporting each other, it feels like that natural thing to do.
If the last 18 months has taught us anything, it’s that working together and collaborating is such a positive thing to do and my business is stronger for it!”
Our exclusive Lemon Fest Bundle makes the perfect gift for a gin lover this Christmas.
Where to buy
Our Lemon Fest gin is available online through the distillery shop, alongside several Shetland Reel stockists - both locally in Shetland and throughout Scotland.
The Lemon Fest Bundle is exclusively available through the distillery shop.
