Rowan berries, wild blueberries and hawthorn are hedgerow fruit rather than orchard fruit, and at 57% ABV they arrive with real force. Rock Rose builds its navy strength bottling on that Scottish berry character, adding rhodiola rosea, angelica root and orris root around the juniper. Navy strength is not simply the same gin turned up: the extra degrees push the pine, the berries and the roots into much sharper relief.

Juniper opens with a strong warm pine character, amplified rather than distorted by the proof. The berries fill the middle and they are darker than a red-fruit gin would suggest: wild blueberry gives depth, rowan a distinctly tart and slightly bitter edge, and hawthorn a drier, more hedgerow-like fruit note. None of it is sweet. Beneath them, angelica and orris bring earthiness and a root-like weight that becomes far more visible at this strength, while rhodiola rosea adds a delicate floral note connected to the name the gin carries. The palate is assertive but reads best as a progression, moving from dry pine through wild fruit to an earthy, rooty close.

At 57% the gin takes dilution well and rewards it. A small measure neat or over ice opens gradually as it warms, and that remains the clearest way to follow the botanicals one by one. Mixed, keep the serve restrained: a neutral tonic, clear ice, and a wedge of pink grapefruit, which lifts the berry depth and answers the brightness in the nose. It also has the concentration for a Negroni, where the fruit and the strength stand up to bitter and sweet components without disappearing. Navy strength gins often trade detail for power; this one keeps both, which is the reason to seek it out. It finishes dry, earthy and long.