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Meet the maker of our new Restoration Yard Christmas Gin, Hamish Martin. Hamish and his wife Liberty set up The Secret Herb Garden, nestled at the foot of the Pentland hills on the outskirts of Edinburgh, in 2012. It boasts a wonderful café, a shop full of vintage furniture, wine and beer. It was born of their dreams to create a special little retreat out of their love of herbs, good food and all things vintage. So how did it become The Old Curiosity distillery into the mix? Hamish reveals his gin journey here and how he made our new Restoration Yard Christmas Gin. What inspired you to start up Old Curiosity gins? The gin was borne out of necessity rather than thinking there was any business opportunity. Midlothian Planning Department were trying to stop us holding weddings at the Secret Herb Garden. They said: “weddings weren’t ancillary to our horticultural holding.” If we lost wedding revenue it would have shut us down. We fought their decision and 18 months later (and much cost and heartache) we won but from the very outset my wife turned round to me and said ‘you know that thing you can do with the roses and the gin I think you had better make business from it just in case we lose.’ Well that’s how it started. We had no money but I did manage to persuade three shareholders to invest in me and we built the distillery and away we went…. Why gin? It could have been a floral spirit but the current popularity of gin was too good an opportunity to miss and everyone knows what they get when they buy a gin. How did you find your little plot of land? The start up to the Secret Herb Garden that started seven years ago when we bought a 7.5 acre derelict site. I had stumbled across these huge ruined glasshouses and fell in love with the land and the potential it held to build a herb nursery, cafe and shop. We spent the first three years living in a static caravan with four kids and five dogs (we now have built a house on site and are up to seven dogs and five children) while eveloping the site. It took two full years to get it ready to open. What have been the challenges and the triumphs? Major triumphs have been national listings with every M&S, John Lewis and Harvey Nichols stores. Oh and of course our first account we ever sold to which was Restoration Yard! The challenges are always present, thank goodness, life would be very dull if they weren’t. What sets your product apart from others on the market? We are different to all the other gins on the market in a few ways. Firstly we grow our own botanicals, hand pick them, use no chemicals whatsoever – we don’t even use organic chemicals. I’ll only use a plant to heal a plant. Also, we have our own drying room where we can obtain perfect colour of the petals and aromatics from the botanicals. Secondly we make single plant distillates. That means we distill flowers separately. For example, the Apothecary Roses are distilled, which means you capture the true flavour, aroma of the rose. We then add this to our gin, which is why you can taste the roses so clearly in our gin. Thirdly, we then use the dried petals to infuse the gin to get the colour from the petals. The fact that the gins then turn pink when you add tonic is a natural pH reaction within the petals. All our gins taste of the flowers they say they are, turn pink all completely naturally and taste fantastic – this makes us truly unique in an over-crowded market. Can you tell us some of your perfect gift ideas for this Christmas? Give someone a young native tree for them to plant somewhere – what better gift can you give for one person and in turn benefit everyone? Tell us a little about our Restoration Yard Christmas Gin that you’ve created for us? So your gin is made from Juniper, Coriander, Winter savoury and Angelica (all grown on site at the Secret Herb Garden). We distill separately ginger and then cardamon and lastly cinnamon. I then blend these three very powerful distillates and add it to the gin. That is why, when you drink your gin, you will taste the classic gin flavour first but you will slowly detect the clean, fresh flavours of the ginger, cinnamon and cardamon all warmly wrapped up in one glass to deliver the most perfect Christmas Gin – serve on ice long, with dried or fresh orange and a stick of cinnamon – perfect. What will be your perfect gin this Christmas and how and where will you be partaking it? My perfect Christmas gin would be our Limited Edition Christmas Gin which was made the same way as Restoration Yard’s Christmas gin but we also used petals to give the gin the most amazing light red colour that when tonic is added . It turns pink. It is amazing. We could only make 476 bottles (ran out of petals) – however we sold out in five days. I’m not to sad as I will be drinking your Christmas gin. I will be making it into a classic Negroni with a festive twist. My wife will make a bulk amount of this to see me through the festive period as it is my ‘go to drink’. However, it should have a warning as having a pre-made Negroni makes it too easy to have seconds. MEET THE MAKERS LATE NIGHT SHOPPING AND CHARITY RAFFLE Meet Hamish at our event at our Meet The Makers special tonight, 29th November from 6 to 8pm.We’re kicking off our Thursday late night shopping events with a special Christmas ‘Meet the Makers’ evening where you’ll get to meet some of the designers and producers behind our labels, helping you pick the best of their collections. What’s more we’ll be hosting an extra special charity raffle to help raise much-needed funds for CHAS (Children’s Hospices Across Scotland). Enter to be in with the chance to win some amazing prizes including a Chamomile Sanctuary Ultimate Indulgence Package, Afternoon Tea and Restoration Yard Hamper.

A celebration of colour, culture and diversity is the brand philosophy of Scottish-based designer Taisir Gibreel. Gibreel’s collection of silk shell tops, kaftan dresses and scarves brings that gorgeous splash of colour and pattern to Restoration Yard’s store. We are excited to invite you along to meet her at our Meet The Makers special on November 29th. The best bit is Gibreel will not only showcase her own collection – she’s a font of knowledge on every single item within the store. As our head of retail, Gibreel’s the guru behind our carefully curated fashion finds, best of beauty and off-piste gifts, so while perusing her beautiful pieces you can tap into her clever brain for some smart gift suggestions for any tricksy customers on your to-shop-for list . For a bit of background, it was after years of working in fashion retail in London, Amsterdam and Spain, Gibreel decided to embark on her degree in textile design at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design. She graduated specialising in print and weave and now her collections are based on original hand drawings of rural and urban Scottish landscapes. Since launching in a New York show in August 2013, each bold and beautiful piece Gibreel creates brings together her Sudanese and English heritage as well as influences of the Scottish landscape. ‘Art to Wear’ is how she sees her abstract print and weave creations. Gibreel explains: “When I sat down to design, all of these wonderful rich textures and colours appeared. Look at my Fairground Sugar Rush prints, you’ll see the little upside down boats from the Parliament, the flashes of orange could be my African roots or perhaps Irn Bru and Ben Lawers inspired the rich, beautiful and dark colours of the Silver Dew Rainbow pieces.” Designer Taisir Gibreel with a selection of her creations MEET THE MAKERS LATE NIGHT SHOPPING AND CHARITY RAFFLE On 29th November from 6 to 8pm – We’re kicking off our Thursday late night shopping events with a special Christmas ‘Meet the Makers’ evening where you’ll get to meet some of the designers and producers behind our labels, helping you pick the best of their collections. What’s more we’ll be hosting an extra special charity raffle to help raise much-needed funds for CHAS (Children’s Hospices Across Scotland). Enter to be in with the chance to win some amazing prizes including a Chamomile Sanctuary Ultimate Indulgence Package, Afternoon Tea and Restoration Yard Hamper.

||Covet |of Thistle Street, Edinburgh – is a real treasure trove of a store for accessories lovers. Think less well-known handbag and accessory brands from all over Europe that can’t be found anywhere else in the capital. Think pieces that just have that point of difference from so much of what’s available on the high street and from high-end designer labels. That’s Covet. So we are super excited to announce that Covet co-owner Blaise Donald and her handpicked selection of Covet gems are coming to Restoration Yard’s store on the evening November 29th, as part of our late-night shopping ‘Meet The Makers’ event. Come along, find yourself inspired by meeting one half of Edinburgh’s most passionate, creative and intuitive business duos and pick up some amazing gifts. Here’s our very quick catch up with her on what she will be bringing to RY on the night. THE 5 MINUTE INTERVIEW So, Blaise, tell us a bit about why you’re bringing Covet to RY? We love the whole of the Restoration Yard’s aesthetic and the store’s ethos. It really feels like Covet and Restoration Yard are the perfect match. Tell us what Covet will be showcasing at our Meet The Makers event? Well, I’ll be bringing along our beautiful Anna Somerville scarves. As well as being my co-owner of Covet, Anna is also an abstract artist. We decided it would be amazing to bring her art into the store in pieces that could be worn, making abstract art accessible. She’s created a beautiful autumn/winter collection in which each scarf design has been taken from an original oil painting of Anna’s and digitally printed onto a 100% wool scarf. At £69 they are a fantastic buy. Anna Somerville scarves from £69 You’re well known for bags. Can we expect to see some on the night? I’m also bringing our own-label Covet bags, which we launched last year. We launched Covet the store in 2007. After a decade of countless trips to fashion trade fairs in Milan and Paris, we felt qualified to bring a desirable collection of Covet own-label handbags to the UK market. We have also been listening all these years to our customers telling us what they wanted. We feel perfectly placed to create a capsule collection of beautiful, practical, affordable, quality, luxury bags women will love. There’s the Covet Essential clutch, which can work on a night out as a standalone piece but is also handy as a bag inside a bag for organisation; the New Town bag, which is a comfortable shoulder bag that can convert into a cross-body bag; The Tote, which works hard by being a good size to carry laptops and other every day essentials; and finally, there is our bestseller the Edinburgh Bag. The Covet Edinburgh bag Why is the Edinburgh bag a favourite? We designed the Covet Edinburgh Bag to be a true multi-tasker. It’s been created to take women effortlessly from day to night. For during the day the detachable strap can be adjusted to any length allowing it to be worn as a cross body or a shoulder bag, either folded or open as a messenger. When it comes to evening you can take the strap off to strap to transform it into an elegant clutch with room in its two zipped section for all essentials. And, like all our bags, it’s handcrafted in Spain from luxurious Italian leather. MORE ABOUT THE EVENT MEET THE MAKERS LATE NIGHT SHOPPING AND CHARITY RAFFLE On 29th November from 6 to 8pm – We’re kicking off our Thursday late night shopping events with a special Christmas ‘Meet the Makers’ evening where you’ll get to meet some of the designers and producers behind our labels, helping you pick the best of their collections. What’s more we’ll be hosting an extra special charity raffle to help raise much-needed funds for CHAS (Children’s Hospices Across Scotland). Enter to be in with the chance to win some amazing prizes including a Chamomile Sanctuary Ultimate Indulgence Package, Afternoon Tea and Restoration Yard Hamper.

Giving you the heads up on new season shopping Sisi Gibreel, Head of Retail at Restoration Yard talks prints, colour and just some of the new collections for autumn. Come in store to see for yourself. Happy shopping. What collections should we be looking out for this season? The store is full of beautiful new pieces. One of my favourite collections this autumn is the new season Vilagallo with all its beautiful prints and fabrics. I introduced this gorgeous brand last season with just a few of its pieces and everyone loved it so we have gone deeper into the collection for autumn/winter. It’s spot on trend. Its silk prints and colour combinations in the dresses and tops have a sophisticated allusion to Pucci. It’s only been on the rails a few days and already customers are loving the extra details that are synonymous with the label’s handwriting – like the lurex sparkle tuxedo trims on the beautifully tailored trousers. VILAGALLO SILK PRINT DRESS Knitwear is always a strong part of the RY offering. What have you picked up for autumn? Wyse London has nailed it again. The luxurious knits stand out because of its use of contrast colour trims on beautifully made, luxurious knits – neon pinks and greens on rich greys and navy. There is a relaxed elegance to the collection especially the loungewear hoodies with the star-detail cuffs. WYSE LONDON KNIT WYSE LONDON HOODIE & TRACK PANTS It’s autumn and after the cold winter last year what other cosy knits are you loving? Oh the other knitwear brand that’s exciting me is the lovely British brand Foxology. These gorgeous and clever pieces will become a must-have in every closet. FOXOLOGY Any must-have accessories? Well, it’s clear from our buying that I love uniqueness and quirkiness. So Pom Amsterdam scarves are looking amazing this season. It’s all about the contrast and again the printed fabrics. These scarves elevate every look from everyday to stand-out. POM AMSTERDAM SCARF Where to turn to for our autumn staples? Part Two just never goes wrong. From the mustard blouse to the classic belted coats, there are wardrobe staples in this collection that work for women, again and again. PART TWO SHIRT