Same nine botanicals, four and a half points more alcohol. Tidal Strength changes nothing about what goes into Isle of Harris Gin and everything about how loudly it arrives, which makes it a useful demonstration of what proof alone does to a recipe. Launched in July 2025 for global travel retail, at 49.5%.

Sugar kelp is the ingredient the island contributes, hand-harvested from sea lochs around the Outer Hebrides, and the higher strength suits it particularly well. Kelp does not make the gin salty; it produces a dry mineral quality and the sensation of sea air, and both of those are sensations rather than flavours, which means they need alcohol to carry them. Around it the framework is entirely classical: juniper, coriander seed, cubeb berries, cassia bark, angelica root, bitter orange peel, orris root and liquorice root.

The distillery is specific about what the extra proof does. Juniper turns drier, the fruit and floral notes become more prominent, and the spice and maritime character both intensify. The result is more assertive than the standard 45% bottling without becoming a different gin.

The nose is firm dry juniper with fresh citrus and a bracing coastal impression, bitter orange lifting it and cubeb and cassia adding spice at the edges. The palate is concentrated and structured, juniper leading with more dryness than usual, the fruit and floral aromatics stronger behind it, roots and spices holding the depth. The finish is persistent and citrus-led with a sweet liquorice nuance beside the coastal freshness.

Distilled in small batches at Tarbert. The house Martini is specified: 50 ml of gin, 10 ml dry vermouth, 5 ml olive brine, sushi nori and a few drops of sugar kelp aromatic water. A very dry Gin and Tonic works equally well if the tonic stays out of the way.