Isle of Barra distillery
Gin distillery on Barra, Scotland
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Isle of Barra distillery is a gin distillery and planned single malt whisky distillery on Barra, in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland. The distillery was founded in 2019 in Castlebay, the largest settlement on the island.
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| Region: Island | |
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| Location | Castlebay, Isle of Barra, Western Isles, HS9 5XF, Scotland, United Kingdom |
| Coordinates | 56.9551°N 7.4993°W |
| Owner | Isle of Barra Distillers Ltd. |
| Founded | 2019 (as gin distillery) |
| Founder | Michael Morrison Katie Morrison |
| Architect | Denham Youd[1] |
| Status | Operational |
| No. of stills | 1 x 300 litre gin rectifier |
| Website | isleofbarradistillers |
| Location | |
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As of 2026, the company is constructing a second, larger distillery in order to begin production of single malt whisky.[2] This will be the first whisky distillery on Barra. When completed, the current gin distillery will be wound down, with production moved to the new site.[3]
History
The company was established in 2016 by couple Michael and Katie Morrison.[4] The Morrisons had lived in Glasgow for nine years before moving to Barra to launch the brand.[5] The company received its distilling license in 2019.[6]
In 2020, the distillery installed an additional 300 litre pot still made by Forsyths of Rothes, expanding capacity of each distilling run from 87 to 500 bottles.[4] The still was nicknamed 'Ada', after the Morrisons' daughter.[7]
The core gin was listed in Waitrose supermarkets in 2023 and in Sainsbury's supermarkets in 2024.[8][9] Later in 2024, an office in Glasgow was opened to accommodate the company's growth.[10]
By 2021, plans had been made for a second distillery to allow the company to produce whisky.[2] A crowdfunding campaign was launched, which raised over £800,000 towards the estimated £12 million building cost.[11] Planning permission was granted in 2022 for a site at Eoligarry, in the north of the island; however when construction began in December 2024, it was at Castlebay, in the south of the island.[1][12] Work had been scheduled to begin in October of that year, but was interrupted when Iron Age pottery was discovered at the site.[13]
Once opened, the future distillery will be the most westerly whisky distillery in Scotland.[14]
Products
The core product is Barra Atlantic Gin, first released in 2017. It is made using 17 botanicals. The signature botanical is Carrageen moss, which is hand-harvested on the island.[7] Initially, it was contract-distilled in England, but production moved to the Isle of Barra in 2019.[4] The gin's packaging won a Master award at the Design & Packaging Awards 2023.[15]
Several other products use ingredients sourced from Barra. A limited-edition gin liqueur in 2021 was made with rhubarb grown at Gàradh a’ Bhàgh a’ Tuath, a community garden on the island, and the distillery's Hebridian Honey vodka uses honey from Bee Bharraigh.[16][17]
To mark the start of construction on the future whisky distillery, Isle of Barra released two independently bottled blended whiskies: a non-age statement and a 10 year old.[13] The recipe for the blends included ingredients sourced from Blair Athol, BenRiach and Tullibardine.[18]