What’s a Botanical Anyway?
We see the term “botanical” thrown around a lot these days, so we want to be super clear and intentional when we use the word to describe our spirits and our ingredients.
The dictionary definition – “of or relating to plants” – is true, but also profoundly vague. As spirits makers by trade, we rely on a helpful definition that we’ve historically used to sort spirits into categories. By our definition, gin is a botanical spirit, but whiskey is not (even though whiskey is made from plants!). Why is this? Because the character of gin comes from juniper, coriander, angelica… the types of ingredients we refer to as botanicals. In this sense, the key difference between juniper and barley is that juniper wields a strong aroma and is employed for just this purpose.
At Wilderton, our tins are packed with of leaves, roots, resins, gums, fruits, and flowers, all magnificently pungent in their own way (it’s a magical place).
Growing, sourcing, and curating botanicals in unique formulas is a practice we find deeply fulfilling. Nature gifts us with some incredible materials, and distillation has a way of magnifying and elevating them, while transforming them into a beautiful clear essence. In a nutshell, that’s what we do at Wilderton, and yes, it’s a lot of fun!
-Seth O'Malley, Founding Distiller