The first Arbikie Distillery was technically around in the 1700s but after a small break in production the distillery as we know it today began production in 2013 in a converted farm building. We are a farm to bottle distillery with all the raw materials used in the distillery grown on the farm.

Our journey started with the humble spud and our Tattie Bogle Potato Vodka. Driven by the desire to not let our farms ‘wonky’ potatoes go to waste, and fully aware of the effort and inputs required to grow them, we set about turning them into Scotland’s first potato vodka. From their we’ve expanded our offerings to include a range of gins, flavoured vodkas, and whisky. This includes the first climate positive spirits made from peas (Nàdar) and led the way in the revival of rye being used in the production of rye single grain scotch whisky.

We operate an internal seasoning and reuse of cask programme to reduce the shipping and supply chain impact of this essential component in whisky. New oak casks are initially used in the maturation of our rye whisky before going on to be used as rye first fill and second fill casks for our single malt. This means for each shipment of casks received on site that each cask can be used at least 3 times compared to just 1 use before being shipped on to another distillery / use.

The casks play a number of roles in the maturation of whisky – there’s lots of reactions happening around flavour with compounds being added, removed and modified, but all complementing the flavours originating from our raw materials and fermentation that we’ve selected during the distillation process.

We make three different gins each of them aims to capture a different element of Arbikie. The first gin we released, Kirsty’s Gin, is potato based was about capturing our Angus home and what we encounter every day around the distillery. AK’s Gin, made from wheat, followed which is Alexander Kirkwood in a bottle – the father of the Stirling brothers and their inspiration for starting Arbikie Distillery. Finally we have Nàdar Gin, here we wanted to show what was possible despite our Scottish climate – made from 100% green peas it is climate positive with signature botanicals of lemongrass and makrut lime leaf, both of which are grown here on the farm!

For us the name Glencairn represents good quality and is globally recognised within the whisky world.  The glass you drink your dram out of has such an impact on your drinking experience and we know with Glencairn our spirits will be presented in the best possible way.

Our core single malt whisky, Lochlea ‘Our Barley’ is named for that very reason. It is made from and inspired by our barley, which we grow on-site. Being a farm distillery, sustainability and transparency are extremely important to us. We then have a range of 4 seasonal limited editions per year. Each one ties back to exactly what is happening on the farm at that time, in terms of cask selection, flavour profile, and packaging.

Yes absolutely. As a farm, we are naturally very green already. However there are several initiatives that we have undertaken to ensure a fully cyclical process and reduce our carbon footprint. For example our Spent Lees are filtered through our on-site reed beds. They contain specialty plants that filter and break this by-product down until it is clean water that is discharged to the burn, mitigating over 2300 road miles per year. Our Draff is collected by local farmers and used as cattle feed. On the farm, after our harvest is complete, we sow cover crops (mustard and radish) to improve soil structure and create a leaf canopy to help prevent soil erosion. This cover crop is then grazed intensively with sheep for a month to six weeks before we start to prepare for sowing the following year’s seed.

Finally, The by-product of growing barley is straw, which we bale after the crop has been combined. Our neighbouring farmers collect and use the straw to bed cattle through the winter. In production, we ensure all our waste products have a secondary use. Our Pot Ale is taken away to a biogas plant and used to generate electricity.

We are always looking for improvements in this area, and in every aspect of our operation. Even our business cards are made from recycled coffee cups!

Over the past year and a half, we have built up a portfolio of whiskies with which we hope everyone will find an expression they enjoy.

Our core single malt, Lochlea ‘Our Barley,’ perfectly encapsulates our house spirit style: fruit and cereal-forward, with depth and complexity beyond its years.

Our limited seasonal releases allow us to showcase our spirit using more experimental cask types that reflect the farming calendar and changing seasons.

Our newly released Cask Strength (Batch One) is perfect for those seeking an amplified version of our house spirit style; a little bolder, yet elegant.

These whiskies, alongside some one-off limited editions and single casks, are how we want to show people what Lochlea is all about until we have our first age-statement product.

We are a relatively manual distillery. Every morning the production team are opening valves and doing manual checks to fire up the distillery equipment. The only automated part within the still house are our temperature controls. We collect data on every stage of the production process, as this is critical to monitor quality and look for continual improvement. We are also implementing a brand new system across production, bottling and logistics, which will tie everything together.

On the 17^th of August we’re excited to be launching our second crop of Harvest Edition, inspired by the annual harvest that takes place on Lochlea Farm. This release is matured in Port, STR and first-fill Bourbon barrels and is packed full of delicious flavours of fruit and spice. This is a limited-edition release, with just 11,000 bottles available globally. Harvest Edition (Second Crop) sits at 46% and as with all our whiskies, is non-chill filtered with no added colouring. After that we will release our 100% sherry matured Fallow Edition in late October, and we have something very special on its way in early 2024…

If you would like to find out more about Lochlea Distillery or would be interested in purchasing one of their bottles you can check your their website here

The village of Penderyn in the Brecon Beacons National Park, which was a couple of miles from Hirwaun, was chosen as it had a site available and a natural supply of spring water. Penderyn means ‘bird’s head’ in Welsh, and so it became the name of the distillery. We have Gold Range and Dragon Range bottles. We use the ‘gold seam’, as medieval Welsh princes used Welsh gold, and of course we use the Welsh dragon.

We have three women distillers (plus a male distiller), and Aista Phillips is our Master Blender. She has a remarkable nose and when one of our US importing team visited, he said watching Aista work was like, ‘watching Jimi Hendrix play guitar.’ Our house-style is a Madeira finish, but we also use a wide variety of casks for finishing – port, sherry, ex-peated, STR (scraped, toasted and re-charred), as well as rum, Muscatel and other casks. Our whiskies generally mature in around 6-8 years, as the high-quality spirit works exceptionally well with the wood. We use Buffalo Trace casks, and Aista has detailed notes on around 15,000 casks, but we also mature in other casks, such as port and sherry.

The Penderyn brand has been established over the last 20 years and has gained a great reputation for consistency and quality.  We have a good presence in the UK and Europe and we see a lot of growth coming from the North America and Asia over the next three to five years. With three distilleries now fully open to the general public we also see a great opportunity to growth and strengthen our brand story through UK and international tourism.

People around the world know about the Scots and Irish, but we call Wales, ‘the secret Celtic nation’. This means that whenever we travel, we have to tell the story of Wales, to give Penderyn a root. For example, it’s not, ‘an island off Scotland’ and some New Yorker said it was! We have many young people, and people who don’t naturally like whisky, who become converts to our lighter, elegant whiskies. We export around 20% of our whiskies, and so there is a major market to expand.

To find out more about Penderyn Distillery and their range of Welsh whisky please visit here.

“The distillery is named after the neighbouring village, Kingsbarns. The location was used in ancient times to store grain in the barns before being transported to the Falkland Palace so it’s a great wee link to its previous use. The building itself is a beautiful old farm steading and we have worked hard to ensure that the architectural features such as the Doocot have been conserved and celebrated. We always take pride in the area we reside. In fact all our releases are named after local landmarks or Fife themes.”

“The Glencairn name is synonymous with quality. Using the correct glassware is incredibly important if you want to get the most out of a dram. Ideally a glass that funnels smell to the nose should be used. Its amazing how much more aroma you pick up when the whisky is presented this way compared to a standard tumbler glass in my opinion. But each to their own, you should drink your whisky however you like!”

“It’s a very interesting time to be in the industry. We are seeing a boom right now alongside a new generation of whisky drinkers, its recognised as a drink for everyone nowadays and its fantastic to see so many people excited about it! There is a trend towards premiumisation, but I think that in order to reach a wide audience its important to make your malt accessible price-wise. This helps build a brand which is crucial for a relatively fresh-faced distillery like Kingsbarns. That’s certainly a balance to strike. We also feel that a sense of place is important in differentiating us from other brands so we keep things as local as possible from locally grown barley to the spent grain that feeds the cattle the next field along.

Over the last few years I’ve noticed some trends in the industry of using all sorts of weird and wonderful casks, which is great, but to be honest at Kingsbarns we really focus on making a classically “Lowland” style of malt, so we want a light wood touch in terms of maturation. You get the most fantastic sweet and fruity note on the new make spirit so we don’t want too much of that to be lost through dominant cask influence.”

“Following on from what I mentioned earlier, I’m completely astonished by the rate of growth the industry has seen over the last 10 years. In 2022 the export value surpassed 6 Billion pounds. It’s extremely positive for the country in job creation and investment. We are now seeing large, established brands expanding alongside many new, smaller distilleries opening their doors for the first time. Blended whisky still commands greatest global sales, but the malt category where there is rapid growth. Its going to be interesting to see how this develops over the next few years.”

That we embrace grain-to-glass on one brand, but on the other we will blend with sourced spirits as well.

We do a little bit of everything since most distilleries do one or the other.

The name Dry Diggings Distillery comes from the original name of the town from 1848 when gold was being mined before the big gold rush a year later (49ers). The town’s name was later changed to Hangtown, and then finally renamed Placerville.

I would have to say it is tradition, the history of whiskey and a bottle that gets passed down from generation to generation. It is something that is acquired with age. People grow older and think to themselves, “Maybe Dad had better taste, and now I understand.

Terroir. Single malt doesn’t have to taste the same everywhere. Use of different grain and how the whiskey is aged.

I also hope that blending will become more popular, like Scotland.  It really is a unique skill set that is still not fully appreciated in the U.S.A.

The public’s willingness to try something new.

They haven’t completely abandoned the tried & true old-time brands, but are opening up to embracing something new.

I like that it ties itself back to the birthplace of whisky.  It carries on the history & heritage of whisky.  It is what we use to sample everyone at the distillery.

They are not cheap, and make a perfect pitch sound that you don’t get with other glassware. Also, the fact that Glencairn brands them for us, thus making it a partnership.  We always remind folks that these come from Scotland and we love that about them!

Visit the Dry Diggings website here