Arbikie
Scotch Single Malt Whisky Library / The Collection > A
FAMILY BUSINESS
THE BROTHERS
Brothers John, Iain and David are the visionaries and driving force behind Arbikie Distillery. As with all farming families, the brothers grew up working around the farm, and it is this hands-on experience that gave them a deep understanding of, and respect for the land.
Despite pursuing careers away from farming, they have always stayed attached to the family lands - and now with the opening and growth of the Arbikie Highland Estate distillery, they have returned to drive this exciting and continually evolving venture.
Capacity: 200.000 Ltrs
Single Estate Distillery:not only does the whole chain of production take place on site but all the ingredients are also grown on the farm.
The first vodka from poatatoes was distilled Otober 2014 Gin in May 2015 and Trials with malt whisky started March 2015 and full production was started in October 2015
Master Distiller is Kirsty Black, the barley from own farm is sent to Boorts Malt in Montrose.
Fermentation Time is 96-120 hours, The wash still is 4000 Ltrs, the spirit still 2400 Ltrs for the vodka and gon there is a 40 plate rectification colunm still
2015 Arbikie starts with trials for malt whisky and made from 52 % unmalted rye, 33 % unmalted whyte and 15 % malted Barley from own farm
First rye whisky in Scotland was released in December 2018.
DISTILLERS CASK STRENGTH
SINGLE GRAIN SCOTCH WHISKY
This first edition of our Distillers Cask Strength Series features a hand-picked combination of four 5-year-old casks, chosen to accentuate the complexity and depth of our estate grown rye coupled with the influence of the selected casks.
This original meld creates aromas of chai tea, baked oranges, crème brûlée and smoke. On the palate are complex layers of chai tea, caramelised pears, baked oranges and smoke.
Alc. 59.7% | £130 per bottle
Delivered to your door for free.
FIELD TO BOTTLE
REAL CRAFT. REAL INGREDIENTS. REAL PEOPLE.
THE ARBIKIE HIGHLAND ESTATE
Arbikie Estate is a family-owned working farm perched on the east coast of Angus. Here, the crop is king. We painstakingly plant, sow, tend and harvest the fields that make up Arbikie. We are craftsmen of the soil.
This is an estate profoundly shaped by its environment: the red sandstone-tinted soil, the powerful sea and the turbulent weather give Arbikie a character found nowhere else. And here, where land meets sea, sits our distillery. Created from an ancient barn, it is a place with all the ingredients required to produce authentic spirits of the highest quality, from field to bottle.
A TRADITIONAL ETHOS
Records show a distillery situated on our land dating back as far as 1794. During these ancient times, distilling was field to bottle, and it is this approach that inspired our own ethos (making spirits this way is rare, as big companies produce spirits as a global commodity). For us, authenticity and provenance are at the heart of everything we do. And let’s not forget creativity – as a family business we have the flexibility to be innovative and original.
ARBIKIE MASTER DISTILLER
KIRSTY BLACK
"Getting the best possible product starts in the field. If you get things right from the beginning it will continue through the harvested product and on into the bottle."
OUR DISTILLERY
The distillery is a stones throw from our fields. When our crops arrive, the magic begins. Renovated from the remains of an old cattle barn overlooking Lunan Bay, we are the first single-estate distillery to distil all our spirits in the same copper pot stills, with the vodka and gin spirit continuing their journey to our 40 plate distillation column. This distillation process means all our spirits reflect the traditional Scotch whisky method.
The distilling team is led by our Master Distiller, Kirsty Black (listed in the top ten female master distillers in the world by Spirits Business Magazine) and Christian Perez. Together with the Stirling brothers, they ensure that the history, tradition and provenance of Scottish distilling are built into the DNA of every spirit they create.
PROVENANCE & TRACEABILITY
The Arbikie Highland Estate has always been farmed with absolute respect for the land. The addition of a distillery has not changed our commitment to minimising any environmental impact. Provenance and traceability at Arbikie doesn’t stop with just our crops and water. We use juniper in our spirits - so we grow our own juniper. We use honey - produced by the bees on our farm. We use solar power, and our distilling from start to finish uses negligible miles for its production. The primary waste product from distilling is recycled wherever possible as feed for cattle.