North Uist

Distillation starting in 2023.

Hello ,

welcome to our first dispatch of official spring, coming to you one day after the equinox and from a wet, wild and very windy Uist. March is proving to be another typically tempestuous one with crisp and bright sunny mornings welcoming us to work while we emerge at the end of the day into weather that has us muttering about winter never ending.

But meanwhile on the machair calves are frolicking, primroses are coming up, and the ever lengthening days are a reassuring reminder that it won't be long before summer is truly upon us and the distillery is flooded with visitors from near and far once again!

Slàinte,

Team Downpour

In fact, those visitors are already arriving, and while we've done our best to provide gin to those bold enough to brave the dust clouds billowing from Nunton over the last few weeks, we were delighted to officially reopen the shop on Monday.

Fully stocked with bottles big and small, gift sets, t-shirts, totes and a range of delicious mixers, we are here for all of your Downpour desires! Don't forget that the distillery refillery is ready and waiting for you to bring in your empties for an eco-friendly top up of your favourite tipple.

Meanwhile in the rest of the building work continues at an amazing pace, getting us ready for the arrival of our whisky equipment in the next few weeks.

The door into the production hall has been widened to allow access for pallets and casks, while the internal ceiling is being raised to make a little more headroom for the stills. We've said goodbye to the staff kitchen and old bar as walls have been taken out to reconfigure the space for the new layout, and the production hall floor is being replaced with a new load-bearing one, for all of that whisky weight.

It's all extremely exciting, and occasionally a little noisy and dusty, so please do excuse the disruptions when you call by, we promise they are worth it!

We will be starting a brand new season of Downpour tasting sessions at the beginning of April. Lasting an hour and fifteen minutes, the Downpour team will lead you through the whole award winning range, guiding you through the process of making each gin, the botanicals involved, and the recipes that create our big bold flavours that burst forth in every drop.

This year we are also offering cocktail masterclasses on Saturdays. Join us at the Island Life Bar to create and enjoy three different Downpour cocktails in a fun and informal setting, before stocking up on ingredients in the shop to recreate them at home!

Did anyone catch Kate and the distillery on BBC's Trusadh earlier this month? We were delighted to be a part of the Gaelic series in this episode Air a' Mhachair, looking at life on the machair and how it is integral to island life.  If you missed it you can watch it on BBC iplayer for another couple of weeks and learn more about the unique habitat where we grow the barley destined for our upcoming whisky.  

WATCH AIR A' MHACHAIR

We hope that you enjoyed our wee catch up on news from North Uist Distillery. It's a busy time for us and we really appreciate all of your continued support and encouragement as we get ready for what promises to be our most exciting summer yet!

If you can't make it to Nunton to call into the shop then there is only one thing left to do, and that's to head over to our online store where you can enjoy free shipping and giftwrapping as you get the gin in.