A visit to the North Uist Distillery
In the Spring of 2023 I embarked on a cycle adventure up the length of the Outer Hebrides. This was attempt number three due to adverse weather conditions forcing cancellations of the Calmac ferry from Mallaig to Lochboisdale. We eventually made it across and had a grim wet ride from the ferry port on south Uist up to our hostel for the night on Benbecula. Turns out the hostel was adjacent to the North Uist Distillery and home of Downpour Gin. We were welcomed in and shown around the steading by owner Johnny. They make the most fabulous range of Gin of which we sell all of the them and eventually we look forward to selling his single malt whisky
We continued our cycle from Benbecula and over the causeway and onto North Uist and Berneray where we jumped in the next ferry to Leverbugh on the South of Harris. After a stunning ride around the coast we eventually reached Tarbert and home of the Isle of Harris Distillery. We had a wonderful tour around with the lovely Marie.
The excitement around the place was insane with the imminent release of their first single malt.For the last 6/7 years it’s all been about their Gin and building up the brand before the release of the Single Malt – The Hearach. Batch One was released in October 2023 and sold out in days. Keep an eye out for future releases.
