Shetland distiller takes title of most northerly UK gin

The UK’s most northerly gin has been overtaken by a distillery based in the Shetland Islands, days after being launched.

The Shetland Distillery Company has unveiled its first product, Shetland Reel Gin, made with botanicals including apple-mint found on the island of Unst.

The site was established last year as a gin and whisky distillery by former Glenglassaugh Distillery owner Stuart Nickerson and RAF Saxa Ford owners Debbie and Frank Strang.

The gin itself features eight botanicals and is created as a “traditional style” in small batches. However, the distillery intends to roll Shetland Reel Gin out to the rest of the UK, Europe and the US.

Nickerson, who sold Glenglassaugh to BenRiach last year, told the Scotsman: “We have created a truly authentic Shetland gin which has a genuine Unst provenance. That means we only produce the gin at the distillery at Saxa Vord and we procure at least some of the botanicals, notably the apple-mint which is grown in a polytunnel here in Unst. The gin is a fantastic Shetland product embodying all that is good about the islands. It will help us to establish a reputation and gives us a strong platform to build on.

“We are developing our plans for Shetland’s first ever whisky, but that is a longer term project.

Shetland Distillery plans to start producing Shetland’s first legal whisky next year, which will also be the most northerly Scotch whisky.

Just last week, Dunnet Distillers in Caitness, Scotland, the most northerly mainland gin distillery in the UK, sold out of its flagship Rock Rose Gin within 48 hours, and before production even started.