The only legal distillery located on Scotland’s outermost Hebridean islands of Uist, has today announced the release of the island’s first ever gin, Downpour.
Crafted by North Uist Distillery to capture the spirit of Hebridean Island life, Downpour is a strong and bold-flavoured premium gin drenched in extra-strength botanicals.
Distinguished by its wild Hebridean heather and citrus content, Downpour will be the only Scottish gin on the market to fully embrace the spirit’s natural clouding effect; the result of the ‘downpour’ of essential oils from the botanicals.
The gin will be priced at £38 per bottle and retailed from the North Uist Distillery website.
North Uist Distillery is run by Jonny Ingledew, master distiller, and Kate MacDonald, creative director, both North Uist natives who returned to the island with the dream of creating outstanding artisan spirits. Downpour is the first release from North Uist Distillery, which is located on the north west of the Island.
Jonny said: ‘Downpour has a bold flavour and packs a delicious punch – all of the flavour from the essential oils, we use, including the resulting flavour cloud, has been retained. The flavour is bold in taste but the gin is still a classic juniper Scottish dry gin. There is no mistake that it’s a gin and we are very proud of that.
‘Downpour is the first spirit we have produced as North Uist Distillery. We are currently distilling from a small set up on North Uist, but our sights are firmly set on expanding and we hope to reveal our ambitious plans very soon. Downpour is just the beginning of our journey.’
Kate added: ‘We both grew up in Uist, so it’s important to us that each bottle is distilled, bottled and labelled on the island to enable the business to have a long-term benefit for people here.
‘We have been overwhelmed by the encouragement and support we’ve been shown and Uist will be at the heart of all of our decision-making as we develop the distillery.’
Mairi Thomson from Outer Hebrides Tourism said: ‘We are absolutely delighted so see the launch of the brand new and aptly named Downpour gin from the new North Uist Distillery.
‘It is fantastic to see an entrepreneurial young couple going into business and wish them the best success. This is also great news for Uist and indeed the Outer Hebrides. We promote local food and drink through our Eat Drink Hebrides Trail and this is another product in our Atlantic Larder that we can shout about.’
Downpour invites gin connoisseurs to discover the true flavours of this North Uist gin; Wild Hebridean Heather has been foraged from across the Island. Clear in the bottle and cloudy in the glass, Downpour is best served classically with a premium tonic and a citrus twist, built over cubed ice in a hi-ball glass.
For further information or to purchase a bottle of Downpour visit www.northuistdistillery.com
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