Dining

Sustainable spirits: Birch Premium Botanical Vodka takes a walk on the wild side

Birch wood sample on Birch vodka

If you’re seeking a vodka experience with a difference, Birch Premium Botanical Vodka is well worth foraging for. Offering an evocative taste of Scotland’s woodlands, it’s crafted with Scottish birch sap and a focus on sustainability.

Harvested each spring in community forests, the sap is a silky, light ingredient that imbues the vodka with a delicate botanical character.  

The sap is paired with pure spirit and infused with a bespoke tincture of birch botanicals. The result is a soft, smooth mouthfeel and distinctive flavour profile.

Each bottle includes a preserved wild birch twig, both a visual nod to its origins and a touch of seasoning for the spirit.

Buck & Birch, founded in 2016 by Scottish entrepreneurs Tom Chisholm and Rupert Waites, draws deeply from nature’s pantry to create its distinctive spirits. The duo take inspiration from a childhood spent in the wild, Tom in Norway’s forests and Rupert in Scotland’s Highlands and Islands.

After years of hosting pop-up dining events celebrating wild Scottish ingredients, the pair shifted focus to distilling. The result? A range of wilderness-inspired spirits, with Birch Premium Botanical Vodka as their flagship.

Birch Premium Botanical Vodka  tasting notes

Bottled at 39.6% ABV, Birch Premium Botanical Vodka works both as a sipping vodka and cocktail star. It offers a nose full of green apple and fennel, with a subtle wood spice on the palate. The finish is akin to a long country ramble.

The vodka is also the first non-timber product to earn Grown in Britain certification, recognizing its sustainable sourcing and low-impact production process.

Birch Premium Botanical Vodka sells for £35.95, and can be purchased directly from Buck & Birch or through select retailers.

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