Stirling Castle Ghosts & the Scottish Folklore Behind Our Spirits
Every bottle we make carries a story older than the distillery itself. We sit on the Castle Rock in Stirling — a place soaked in nine centuries of battles, ghosts and Scottish legend — and we've never seen the point in ignoring it. So we didn't. Our Folklore range takes the myths that still echo around this town and pours them into liquid. Here's who they are, and why they're worth raising a glass to.
The Green Lady of Stirling Castle
She is Scotland's most famous ghost, and she never left. The Green Lady was a lady-in-waiting to Mary, Queen of Scots — legend says she perished saving the young queen from a fire, and has walked the castle corridors ever since. Staff and visitors still report a chill, a green shimmer, a presence just out of sight.
Our Green Lady Gin Liqueur is our tribute to her: an award-winning blend of mint and bramble that pours a deep, brooding red. Sip it neat over ice, or lengthen it with soda for something that drinks like a garden after rain. At £31 for a 50cl bottle, she's a haunting worth inviting home.
The Red Cap — the goblin you don't want to meet
Head to the Borders and the stories turn darker. The Red Cap is a murderous goblin said to haunt the ruined peel towers of the Scottish Borders, dyeing his cap in the blood of travellers and driven off only by cold iron. Charming fellow.
The liqueur named for him is far friendlier. Our Red Cap Gin Liqueur is built on bright, jammy raspberry — sweet, sharp and dangerously easy to drink. Pour it over prosecco for a blush-red aperitif, or top with lemonade on a warm evening. Also £31 for 50cl, and it disappears faster than the legend suggests.
The Baobhan Sith and the Spiced Rum
The Baobhan Sith is one of the Highlands' most seductive and deadly spirits — a beautiful figure who lures travellers into the dark and never lets them return. We took her allure and her untamed edge and bottled it as Stirling Spiced Rum.
Warm notes of orange, vanilla and spice make it a rum built for slow evenings. Serve it long with ginger beer, lime and plenty of ice in a copper mug, or sip it neat and let the spice unfold. It's £40 for a 70cl bottle — the newest character in the range, and already one of the most talked about.
The Pink Lady
Not every legend is a warning. Our Stirling Pink Gin is the softer side of the folklore — twelve botanicals including rose petals, pink peppercorn and pink grapefruit, balanced into a gin that drinks like summer. If the flagship gin is Stirling's handshake, this is its smile. Pour it over ice with a premium tonic and a wedge of grapefruit. It's £38 for a 70cl bottle.
Battle Strength — for William Wallace's town
You can't tell Stirling's story without the fight for it. This is the town of the Battle of Stirling Bridge, the Wallace Monument on the skyline and the Bruce at Bannockburn. Our Battle Strength Gin is the bottle that carries that spirit — a bold, juniper-forward gin at a formidable 55% ABV. It doesn't apologise for what it is, and neither did they. £35 for a 50cl bottle; a splash of water opens it right up.
Where it all began — the nettle gin
The whole range grows from one bottle. Our flagship Stirling Gin is made with wild Stirlingshire nettles hand-foraged from the fields around us, sealed with a hand-dipped wax cap. It's the gin that started it all — proof that the best stories are the local ones, told properly. £38 for 70cl.
Bring the legends home
Want to meet the characters before you commit to a full bottle? Our Folklore Gift Pack pairs 5cl measures of Red Cap and Green Lady with a branded Glencairn glass for just £19 — a proper introduction, and a gift that lands with anyone who loves a good story. You'll find the whole cast in our gift collection, ready to wrap.
Nine hundred years of Scottish legend, poured into bottles you can actually open. Pick your character, pour a measure, and let Stirling tell you a story.
- Green Lady Gin Liqueur — mint & bramble, £31
- Red Cap Gin Liqueur — raspberry, £31
- Stirling Spiced Rum — orange, vanilla & spice, £40
- Stirling Pink Gin — rose, pink peppercorn & grapefruit, £38
- Battle Strength Gin — juniper-forward, 55% ABV, £35
