It is between August and November when juniper is harvested - and, as the Origin series shows, it's the bushes snaking round Tuscany through to Albania which are flourishing. This wasn't always the way though. In the 19th century, the Scottish Highlands was one of the main juniper-producing regions of Europe. Locals from Aberdeen and Inverness would flog bagfuls of juniper to traders who up-sold them to Dutch gin distillers. Over the past half-century though, Britain's juniper has seen rapid decline due to hungry deer, sheep and rabbits, and the fragmentation of male and female bushes, making pollination difficult. Now the only gin brands which rely on Scotland's much-depleted juniper stocks are Shetland's Blackwood gin, and Bruichladdich from Islay.