James Lind
Born in Edinburgh in 1716, James Lind is a relatively unsung hero of the Scottish Enlightenment; a period traversing the 18th and 19th centuries when Scotland became a centre of intellectual and scientific accomplishments.
After some informal medical training at Edinburgh University, he joined the Royal Navy in 1738 as a Surgeons’ Mate, and by 1747 he had become Surgeon of a ship called HMS Salisbury. It was on this vessel that he conducted what is recognised today as one of the first clinical trials ever recorded, which played a significant part in the story of the prevention of scurvy.
The Bottle
The shape of our bottle is inspired by the remarkable industrial heritage of Leith.
In the 18th and 19th centuries, whisky merchants gradually began to dominate the shore as Leith became Scotland’s national hub for the maturation and export of the country’s national spirit.
The key raw materials for making glass were locally abundant: sand and kelp (a large sea-weed) and the first records of glass production in Leith emerge from the mid to late 17th century.
It was this remarkable local industrial heritage that inspired us to choose a wine bottle shape for our gin. We’ve also embossed the words ‘Leith Glass Works’ on the base of our bottle, a name that will feature on all the spirit bottles we produce for years to come. While the industry no longer exists in our historic port, who knows what the future might hold.
The Design Process
After days spent in our shed fighting photoshop, we gave our designers (Leith-based creatives Contagious) this image of how we wanted the bottle to look.
They did an altogether more professional job of mocking-up the concept.
Then it was over to the bottle manufacturers who sent us this 3D print of the bottle design.
After several months, we got our first glass prototype from the factory.
A few adjustments and we created a 2nd prototype, this time in clear glass.
18 months after starting,, we received our first order of bottles from Italy and Lind & Lime was born.
The Map
As the historic gateway to Scotland’s capital city, Kings, Queens, armies and navies have all passed through our port.
They often made a horrible mess of the place on their way.
We wanted a way to tell some of these stories with our gin, and so we’ve created a map depicting 24 ships with historic or contemporary associations with Leith. Some of them just tell us something about Leith in their era. Others have fascinating stories to tell. If you purchase our gin from one of our many retailers, you may find them wrapping your bottle in this map.
