If you're looking to visit one of Edinburgh's most haunted spots, it's no secret that the Real Mary King's Close should probably be on your list.
Buried under the city we know and love today, the now tourist attraction was once a dark and damp street in the Old Edinburgh, before it was built on top of. Surviving for hundreds of years, the spooky tours take you down through the city's past, but now the attraction has launched a new take on the experience, and it's mixed with gin.
Teaming up with Edinburgh Gin, we headed down to try the new tasting and tour, which is set to teach you all about how the botanicals used in today's tipples are actually very intertwined with the capital's dark history. Arriving with our group, we were quickly introduced to our fantastic guide who got started straight away on explaining his character as a 16th-century merchant.
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From there, we headed down onto the close itself, visiting tiny dark cellars that once would have housed up to 12 people, with no electricity, running water or toilets. Keeping the group enthralled with tales of the plague and the troubles that once haunted the city, we were also slowly introduced to Edinburgh's relationship with alcohol over the years, from ale to the introduction of gin.
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After wandering deep down in Edinburgh's underground city, we were then taken into a room on the close where we would be getting to sample the good stuff. Hosted by Edinburgh Gin, we started off with a classic gin and tonic as we listened in to hear an amazing array of facts, which included how some of the botanicals used in the drink would once be what plague doctors stuffed their long beak-like masks with.
From there, we sampled a further three different gins by the brand, before making our way out of the eerie close and back into the real world, feeling sufficiently merry.
Running from July 9 to July 30, the tours will operate on select Fridays and Saturdays, and we would advise you to book up quick, because this is one you definitely don't want to miss.
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