The Isle of Harris Distillery won the biggest award of the night at the Scottish Gin Awards in Glasgow on Thursday September 20th.
The ultimate award, Scottish Gin Distillery of the Year, was presented to Isle of Harris Distillers, whose mission to create a “social distillery” bringing jobs and increasing tourism to the island was praised. The Hebridean distillery fought off competition from four other distilleries to win the award.
Six members of the Tarbert team attended the glamorous ceremony in Glasgow while, back at home, other staff dined out at North Harbour Bistro in Scalpay and greeted the news of their win with delight.
Award sponsors the Scottish Gin Society said: “The big one!!! So happy for Isle of Harris Distillers as they win distillery of the year – sponsored by us – amazing Scottish Gin distillery.”
The distillery welcomed congratulations from other islanders like Kilda Cruises, who tweeted: “Not surprised by the award of Gin Distillery of the Year, but delighted for you all!”
A spokesperson for the distillery said: “Our sincere thanks to all our customers and followers for their continued enthusiasm, not just for our spirit but for the wider ambitions of our project. Our thanks also go to the dedicated, hardworking team in Tarbert and our wider distillery family for whom this work is much more than just a way to make a living.
“Finally, our thanks to our fellow islanders for all their support, we're incredibly proud to be putting the Isle of Harris on the distilling map. Slàinte mhòr!”
And hard on the heels of th award as Gin Distillery of the Year, Isle of
Harris Distillers learnt on Friday September 28th that they had been acclaimed as best distillery/brewery tour of 2018 at the Scottish
outdoor leisure awards.
The award was presented on Friday night in Glasgow, recognising the special nature of Isle of Harris distillery tours, which offer small groups of just 12 visitors a behind-the-scenes look at the distillation of both whisky and gin.
The distillery team said: “Our tours share our island spirit with visitors in a way that breaks the usual conventions. A sensory exploration of story, samplings and botanicals, along with our Harris Tweed flavour abacus and jellybean dispensers, there's much to learn
along the way.
“Leading guides Sandra and 'MM', have joined Alex, Kate and Shona taking 4,536 visitors around our distillery to date this year.”