A Sip Through Time – The Real Mary Kings Close x Pickerings Gin

20:00
July 14, 2023

PR invite // All thoughts and opinions are, of course, my own.

I’ve been to the Real Mary Kings Close twice before. My first time was during my fresher’s week when I first moved to Edinburgh and the second time wasn’t that long ago when I was invited to try the whisky tour they were offering then. This time around there was gin that awaited after the main part of the tour!

Unfortunately you are not allowed to take any photos or videos during the first part of the tour when you explore Mary Kings Close and the old streets that used to be open to the Edinburgh public, but maybe it’s for the best as I wouldn’t want to spoil the experience. I think this is one of the best tours you can do in Edinburgh as you really get to see what the past would have been like and you learn a lot. For these special tours, our guide adapted the script so that it includes some tales and history about Edinburgh linked to gin, which makes a lot of sense, especially when you finish the experience with a tasting. The tasting takes place in a room that looks like a cave which is a lovely setting for it all. For the gin part of the tour Real Mary Kings Close has teamed up with local gin brand Pickerings Gin, who makes one of my favourite gins – and they also have a nice tour at Summerhall. During the tasting one of the team members from Pickerings took you through one gin & tonic and three neat samples of some different gins from their portfolio. It’s always fascinating trying gins neat next to each other as you really can taste the differences and see what suits you the best. the Gin & Tonic was one of their canned ones that’s been made with their Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo gin and was served with a slice of apple – it was delicious.

The tour is always interesting, especially if you don’t know that much about Edinburgh, and enjoying some tasty gin afterwards is just a big bonus!