There are gins that announce themselves with fanfare, and then there are those that arrive quietly, assured of their own character. Scapegrace Premium Gin belongs firmly to the latter camp — a London Dry that carries itself with the kind of understated confidence that only comes from knowing exactly what it is.
A Spirit With Somewhere to Be
The name itself is a provocation. A scapegrace is a rascal, a rogue — someone who escapes the grace of convention. It's a fitting moniker for a gin that takes the classical London Dry blueprint and threads it with something wilder, something that speaks of native botanicals and landscapes far removed from the grey cobbles of Clerkenwell. At 42.2% ABV, it sits at that comfortable sweet spot where the spirit has enough structure to carry its botanical payload without overwhelming the drinker.
What strikes me about Scapegrace is the interplay between tradition and place. This is unmistakably a London Dry in style — juniper-led, clean, with the kind of architectural precision that the category demands. Yet there's a warmth here, a hint of spice that curls beneath the juniper like woodsmoke drifting through a valley. The use of native botanicals gives it a signature that feels rooted in somewhere specific, somewhere with clean air and wild terrain, rather than assembled from a catalogue of the usual suspects.
The London Dry, Reimagined
I've long believed that the best London Drys are the ones that honour the style's discipline while finding room for a distiller's own handwriting. Scapegrace achieves this balance with real elegance. The juniper is present and accounted for — as it must be — but it doesn't shout. Instead, it forms a backbone around which the native botanicals and those subtle spice notes can do their quiet work. The result is a gin that feels both familiar and distinctly its own.
At around £42, Scapegrace Premium positions itself in the mid-premium bracket, and I think it earns its place there. This isn't a gin that trades on novelty or gimmick. It's a serious, well-crafted spirit that rewards the drinker who pays attention. A score of 7.9 feels right — this is accomplished work, a gin that does nearly everything it sets out to do with poise and clarity.
Best served on a cool evening, long with a quality tonic and perhaps a sliver of orange peel to coax out those warmer spice notes. Let it breathe in the glass for a moment before the first sip. Scapegrace is a gin that rewards a little patience.
