I understand the Dunnet Bay story begins before the company was born – back in your student days. Can you tell us more about how things all started?
Dunnet Bay Distillers Ltd is a family-owned business established and managed by myself and my wife Claire. We are both native to Caithness and when we were at university we would dream about one day opening a local business.
After graduating I went down a chemical / process engineering career route in an offshore plant within the oil and gas industry and Claire turned towards hospitality and tourism. When the opportunity presented itself for both of us to return home to create a business, the idea of Dunnet Bay Distillers was settled. The aim was to create jobs in Caithness so that we could live, work and raise a family in our home village.
You had been living and working in France, but dreaming of doing business in Scotland, what enabled you to pursue the dream?
We had always dreamed of owning our own distillery, but were financially constrained due to The Excise Act, which stated that the minimum size still you could operate to get a licence to distil spirits was 1,800 litres. In 2008 that size of still would have cost over £75,000, so it was sadly always too big and too expensive for us to afford.
Thankfully that all changed when Sipsmith successfully challenged the law as they wanted to set up a new business distilling gin in a small 300 litre traditional copper pot still. The change in law blew the gin market wide apart and changed the face of the industry forever. It is now commercially viable for people to distil gin on a small scale for the first time in centuries!
The change in the law gave us the opportunity to move home to Caithness, build our own house and build Dunnet Bay Distillery. Once the distillery’s first copper pot still was installed we perfected the recipe for Rock Rose Gin and aimed to make about 10,000 bottles in our first year of operation.
We ended up making and selling 9,000 bottles in the first quarter of distilling and the first batch of Rock Rose Gin sold out through pre-orders within forty-eight hours of release. That was in 2014 and we have never looked back.
Your copper stills – Elizabeth and Margaret! – are beautiful, but huge, bits of kit. How did you know where to start?!
‘Elizabeth’ and ‘Margaret’ were made by John Dore & Co. Ltd, the oldest still maker in the world. I had lots of experience working with big process equipment in my previous career, and was delighted to work with John Dore & Co. Ltd to design the two ‘girls’.
Similar to ship building, it is a tradition in distilling to give your still a lady’s name. Our first still was named ‘Elizabeth’ after Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother. She was a frequent visitor to Caithness, spending three weeks in August at the nearby Castle of Mey, then returning every October to escape from the pressures of a busy royal life. Her favourite drink was rumoured to be a gin and Dubonnet, so it was only right to name our first still in her honour.
The second still is called ‘Margaret’ after another very special lady, Claire’s mum, Margaret Calder. Margaret is the distillery’s production supervisor. She has been an absolute super star to work alongside, bringing organisation and control to the initial unstructured chaos. With a methodical and organised mind and a wicked sense of humour, Margaret has implemented structure and routine into Dunnet Bay Distillery, helping the business to grow and diversify.
Your technical knowhow has clearly proven invaluable – but what about the marketing, more consumer-focused side of the business? What are some the valuable lessons you’ve learned here?
Claire’s burgeoning background in hospitality and tourism meant that her skills were well suited to developing and managing the customer focussed side of the business – aspects like marketing, retail, tours, and events.
As a duo, we never dreamed that one day we would employ 16 people and win Scottish Gin Distillery of the Year at the 2019 Scottish Gin Awards and see the Company’s multi-award-winning Rock Rose Gin and Holy Grass Vodka distributed and enjoyed by people all around the world!
Importantly, both of us have learnt to trust our own instincts, take advice where we need to, and listen to the team who understand the business and its customers.
The current economic climate is challenging for business owners – what advice would you have for someone starting out now?
We often say that running your own business is a bit like being on a roller coaster ride. You enjoy the ‘ups’, and just deal with the ‘downs’ knowing that there is a way to resolve whatever set-back you are currently experiencing and that things will eventually work themselves out. However, it’s incredibly important to trust your own instincts and do what is right for you, your team, and the local community. It’s key that as a team you develop your own unique culture and resist the temptation to implement a boring, uniform corporate policy. However, we cannot stress this enough, don’t be afraid to innovate!
You employ 16 people in Caithness, can you tell us a bit about the role of Dunnet Bay in the local community?
We are incredibly proud that Dunnet Bay Distillers Ltd has a history of engaging with a wide range of community partners. We often run events and educational initiatives to develop employment opportunities for young people and to promote the natural and cultural heritage of the area and the history of gin and vodka as a key resource.
We also work with many local artists and craftspeople, through competitions and under commission, to create artwork for display and use in labelling, our distillery, shop and tasting room.
Our ‘Inspired by Gin’ exhibition in 2019/20 was aimed at attracting out-of-season tourists when few attractions in the North Highlands were open to the public. We used the distillery’s Visitor Centre to display artwork submitted by artists and craftspeople from across the UK including paintings, ceramics, textiles, glass, and sculpture.
We got together with several artists and allowed them to interpret the theme ‘Inspired by Gin’ in a variety of ways, from the botanicals used to make Rock Rose Gin, the landscape of Caithness to the history of gin.
The exhibition included artwork for sale, workshops, and artist talks. Following that success we have just opened our 2022/2023 winter exhibition ‘Holy Grass Hero’ commemorating Robert Dick the Victorian era Thurso baker, botanist and local hero who rediscovered Northern Holy Grass (Hierochloe borealis) growing on the banks of the River Thurso which is used to make our Holy Grass vodka range.
We’ve read that your goal is “to create spirits which reflect the Caithness way” – can you explain what you mean by this?
Dunnet Bay Distillery is a magical place that makes spirits which are inspired by and embody Caithness, its unique cultural and natural heritage, and its people. Given this, our ethos is based on six core values:
- Authenticity
- Flavour
- Heritage
- Innovation
- Sustainability
- Tradition
Authenticity – We ensure to hand distil slowly, thoughtfully, and passionately in order to create exceptional products using traditional copper pot stills, Highland water and hand-foraged botanicals sourced from the spectacular cliffs of the Pentland Firth, Dunnet Forest or grown in the distillery's own garden.
Flavour – Rock Rose Gin is like other gins in some respects because it does have a predominant juniper flavour and all the traditional ingredients you would expect to find in gin.
However, what makes the flavour of Rock Rose Gin so special is the carefully selected collection of local and traditional botanicals used by Dunnet Bay Distillers to make our gin. In fact, the name Rock Rose comes from one of these botanicals, Rhodiola rosea, commonly known as the rose root, which I discovered on my first botanical forage along the Caithness cliffs. Rhodiola rosea is a real earthy rose which adds a delicate floral note to the gin.
Rock Rose Gin is also made with other interesting ingredients like rowan berries, which grow across the road from the distillery in Dunnet Forest and blaeberries which bring a nice jam taste to the middle of the drink, then you’ve got lemon verbena and Bulgarian juniper that add a nice lemon sherbet finish to the gin.
Interestingly, Holy Grass Vodka is also a celebration of the flavour of local produce and ingredients, the spirit is infused with a carefully crafted vapour of Highland apples and apple juice, to complement the sweetness of the Holy Grass. The result is a delicate and fresh vodka with a creamy smooth finish.
The hero botanical Hierochloe odorata is a delicate, sweet-scented grass known by several common names such as Holy Grass, Bison Grass, Sweet Grass, and Vanilla Grass.
Holy Grass is one of the United Kingdom’s rarest plants. It is only found growing in a few places in Scotland including beside the banks of the nearby Thurso River.
Heritage – The different botanicals we use to make Rock Rose Gin and Holy Grass Vodka are predominately chosen for the flavour they will add to our spirits but where possible we also like to use botanicals such as rowan berries that have stories that reflect the cultural and natural heritage of Caithness attached to them.
For instance, did you know that the rowan tree is associated with the Norse god of thunder Thor, who our nearest town Thurso is named for? According to Norse mythology, Thor once used a rowan tree to pull himself from a river to safety, thus rowan trees are considered in old Norse areas of the world to be holy trees and trees of protection.
Caithness was settled by Vikings from Norway from the mid-9th century AD onwards, so stories like this are a great way to showcase both the natural and cultural heritage of Caithness, making a drink of Rock Rose Gin or Holy Grass Vodka a little bit of history, myth, and magic in a glass!
Innovation – We are not afraid to innovate whilst remaining true to our core values of Authenticity, Flavour, Heritage, and Tradition. Innovation extends from our new recyclable packaging, ever developing guided tour offer and the creation of new spirits.
Sustainability – Our independent family-owned business provides much needed employment in a fragile rural economy. We generate our own electricity using solar panels on the distillery roof and were proud to offer the first gin available in fully recyclable pouches that can be returned to us freepost via standard Royal Mail.
Once at the distillery, the pouches will be passed on to be upcycled into new items. We also use local botanicals and Highland water in the production of our spirits.
Tradition – Our bespoke pot stills have been uniquely designed just to create our spirits. Using a traditional handmade copper head along with botanical vapour basket, it is a small batch process of 500 litres. This ensures tremendous care can be applied to achieve best results.
2023 marks your tenth anniversary – congratulations! How are you planning on marking this milestone?
That is a surprise! You will have to visit our website www.dunnetbaydistillers.co.uk and social media pages to find out what exciting products and events we have planned. Or better yet, come visit us in person!
Finally – the festive season is well and truly upon us – what seasonable Dunnet Bay tipples would you recommend to our readership?
Our newest gin – Smoked Orange – created by our ScotGrad Scheme funded distiller Craig Chambers, is very Christmassy. This gin uses fine Lapsang Souchong tea to deliver smoky notes to enhance zesty organic orange peel, which is complemented by tangerine sage and lemon verbena grown in the geodome at Dunnet Bay Distillery.
For vodka drinkers our Holy Grass Vodka Cold Brew Coffee Edition is perfect for Christmas and the New Year. The hero botanical Holy Grass which has a creamy vanilla taste is blended with ethically sourced coffee from Ovenbird Coffee Roasters in Glasgow to create a lovely dark chocolate and vanilla spirit, which can be used to make a fabulous Espresso Martini.
We’ve also got a range of fantastic festive cocktail recipes on our website: Dunnet Bay Distillers Cocktails & Recipes
