During my stay in Tarbert, I had to do a tasting tour of the Isle of Harris Distillery – when I was in Scotland in 2019 I bought a bottle of gin, just because I liked the bottle. It tasted amazing and I found out that this gin had won many awards – it was the Isle of Harris gin. One of the many reasons I wanted to visit Harris & Lewis.
The Isle of Harris Distillers is a “Social Distillery” founded with the idea of not only creating amazing spirits but also offering jobs and keeping the young people on the island.
Founded in September 2015 the distillery now employs almost 40 permanent staff, a quite significant number on an island with around 2000 inhabitants.
The goal was to create an amazing whisky, but as whisky takes time, as much as it needs it, gin was produced and is now loved & celebrated around the world.
From the cosy peat fire by the entrance we made out way up to the tasting room and even got a bit of the young uisge beatha (the spirit) to taste. It reminded me a bit of our Austrian Schnaps.
We were also able to visit the stills rooms,they were nice and warm and learned more of how to make whisky and gin.
First barrels of the sleeping whisky, I believe they are all sold already.
When will the whisky be ready? When it is ready!
The Harris gin is completely produced in and around Harris, it gets it special taste from Kelp, which is also harvested on the cliffs of Harris.
Another iconic image of Harris, but unfortunately Tarbert Shop closed before my first visit to Harris.
