We were excited to receive an invitation from The Isle of Harris Distillery for a behind-the-scenes tour. Despite the hail showers and brisk wind, we were thrilled to travel the scenic route over the Clisham to The Isle of Harris Distillery. We split the trip into two visits to ensure the shop was staffed. Mary and I went on the first week and Conner and Iain went the next.
During the first visit, the excellent Gemma took us to the dunnage warehouses in Ardhasaig. We have a very close working relationship with her, and it is always brilliant to catch up with her and let her impart her product and brand wisdom. The vastness of the warehouses and their breathtaking view blew us away. We explored different casks and found The Island Spirit Cask, which was extremely exciting as I had never seen it before!!
Next, we went back to the distillery to do the tour with the incredible MM. She was born for the job, not only because of her friendly and inviting mannerisms but also because of her love for Harris, which shone throughout our time with her. We were joined by other businesses and Distillery Staff, which gave a great sense of community, it was fantastic. It was the first time we had done the tour with The Hearach being used for tasting, which was extremely exciting. MM showed us all the elements that go into the whisky, and she then went into detail about why they had all been carefully selected to make their perfect dram.
Then we went on to the gin half of the tour, which was equally exciting and delicious. The jellybeans were a bonus and went perfectly with the gin for an enjoyable sensory experience. We were shown all the different botanicals used in the gin-making process, which was fascinating and now, as we tell the customers what the gin is made up of, we can visualise all the different botanicals, which is a handy tool.
After savouring every drop of the gin and MM's knowledge, we proceeded down the corridor to the Spirit Hall. Here, we saw the small but mighty copper gin still called ‘The Dotach,’ the bespoke copper stills for the whisky, and all eight washbacks in the Spirit Hall. Finally, we concluded our tour at the bottling plant, where we were amazed to see all the complex and intricate work that goes into each bottle. It was impressive to see that most of the process is done by hand.
We all had a fantastic time at the distillery! The experience was brilliant, and we couldn't have asked for a better time. We are incredibly grateful for everything they did to make our visit memorable and will forever be proud to be a stockist of both their gin and whisky.
