In the heart of Edinburgh, nestled in the old dog kennels of the Old Royal Dick Vet School, you will find the home of Pickering’s Gin at Summerhall Distillery, the first exclusive gin distillery to be established in Edinburgh for over 150 years.

Matt and Marcus (pictured) were both working at Summerhall when they spotted the derelict dog kennels from the animal hospital that once stood there. As fate would have it, Marcus had already inherited a gin recipe from a friend of his late father. Add that to their mutual penchant for a good gin, and the next step seemed obvious.

Never mind that they didn’t (strictly speaking) have a distillery: Matt and Marcus rolled up their sleeves and built one! And never mind that they had no background in distilling: Matt and Marcus tried, tested and experimented until they were experts. And so began their story of the Botanical Engineers.

Cunard and Summerhall Distillery have been in partnership since 2017, which has been a lifelong dream of the distillery’s co-founder Marcus.

Marcus’ great-uncle, Captain George Gibbons CBE RD RNR (pictured left, next to his great-nephew), sailed as captain of Cunard White Star liners from 1909-1944. These ships included Majestic, Aquitania (“The Ship Beautiful”) and the legendary transatlantic liner Queen Mary in 1936.

Co-founder and Head Distiller Matt Gammell set out to create three unique London Dry Gins to represent each of the Cunard Queens. Working closely with the team at Cunard, Pickering's produced three distinctive gins celebrating the routes most associated with each ship, and so the Cunard 3 Queens Gin range was born.

The 3 Queens Gin collection is available on board our ships and, for UK residents, to purchase directly from Pickering's. What's more, 10% of every online purchase goes to another of our partners, The Prince's Trust, to help young people change their lives for the better.