Inverclyde Gin launching limited-edition ‘Port Strength’

Scottish gin brand Inverclyde – made “by locals for locals” – has announced the launch of a limited-edition higher-ABV gin.

Inverclyde ‘Port Strength’ Gin is inspired by the naval and shipbuilding heritage in the brand’s namesake county. Even its 55.9% ABV bottling strength pays homage to the area – the latitude of Port Glasgow, where the brand is based, is 55.9ºN.

It contains a slightly bolder infusion of the original gin’s botanicals, including sea buckthorn, samphire and blackberries, with the addition of ginger for a punchier flavour.

Launched in 2020, Inverclyde Gin was designed to create both a product and work opportunities for the local community. The gin is bottled, labelled and sold by The Start-Up Drinks Lab in Port Glasgow and the team of local residents has been involved in every stage of its creation from recipe design to the bottle neck tagline.

Craig Strachan, managing director and co-founder of The Start-Up Drinks Lab, said: “We wanted to create a gin for the people of Inverclyde that really represents the strong community living here. Inverclyde Gin is our message in a bottle for the locals who have continued to support our business.”

Brand manager Karis Johnston said: “Our team are always coming up with quirky new ideas for drinks, and after the success we’ve seen from the launch of our Coastal Inverclyde Gin we were really interested in developing the brand even further. In keeping with our nautical theme, we wanted to create our own navy strength gin, but with a local and innovative twist.”

Inverclyde Gin Port Strength Batch 1 launches on Monday 23 August, in a run limited to 275 bottles. It is available to pre-order at inverclydegin.co.uk now.