Castlebay, Isle of Barra HS9 5XF, Verenigd Koninkrijk
Isle of Barra Gin Formula Focus on Family
Isle of Barra Gin Formula Focus on Family
BARRA ATLANTIC GIN
The adventurous spirit of the Barra people inspires our unique gin. Our award-winning Barra Atlantic Gin is distilled from 17 specially selected botanicals, capturing the essence of our beautiful home.
Born from the Island, with our key botanical hand foraged from the shores that surround our Island home on the edge of the Atlantic. Every drop of our Island spirit distilled, bottled and labelled right here on the Isle of Barra, from our Family Distillery.
ISLAND BORN, FEARLESS SPIRIT.
Isle of Barra Gin Formula Focus on Family
CAPTURING THE ESSENCE OF BARRA
The new vessel and the term vessel is an appropriate word as the connection from the Isle of Barra to the sea is endless, as is our relationship with the sea to our award-winning Gin.
We have moved away from using a stock bottle made from 100% flint glass to creating our very own custom-designed bottle but instead, our new bottles are produced from 52% recycled glass.
With the move to such a high percentage of recycled glass, each bottle varies & can’t be the same, and we feel this is part of the character. It feels like each bottle represents all the different characters from our Island home, all different, all with their story to tell.
The bottle weight has been reduced by 17%, but crucially the distance from Allied Glass to the Isle of Barra Distillers is now 406 miles. This is now 382 miles less than our previous supplier, helping our Family Distilleries’ carbon footprint. Two final & crucial points to our new vessel, it is now 100% plastic free & 100% recyclable.
Isle of Barra Gin Formula Focus on Family
HOW WE MAKE OUR ISLAND SPIRIT
Our Island Spirit begins its journey being Distilled in our custom-built copper still “Ada”. Another notable nod to the connections made by our ‘Family Distillery’ as our copper still is named after our co-founder’s daughter, who is just as fiery as our beautiful still, which was handcrafted by the world-leading Forsyth’s from Rothes in Scotland.
Our local distiller creates a spirit that has the essence of the Outer Hebrides at its core, our gin, distilled with 17 individually & carefully selected botanicals but is the Carrageen Seaweed, sustainably hand foraged from the shores of our island Home, is the key to setting our Gin & bringing it to life.
Our distillation method is vapour infused, meaning our botanicals rest on two baskets within our copper still ‘Ada’ and as the spirit begins to reach optimum temperature, the vapour that is carried through, passes by our complex mix of 17 botanicals, all weighed to the exact gram beforehand. As the vapour passes, it softens our botanical and collects the essential oils.
As the vapour continues through our copper-still, it’s not long before the end result is our award-winning Barra Atlantic Gin. When distilling our Outer Hebridean gin, we discard the heads and tails from our distillate. The vast majority of gin distillers reuse the heads and tales, but we feel that the end result just isn’t as crisp, smooth or premium. So, although it is more costly, we feel this is the best method possible to create our premium gin.
Once our distillation run is complete, we leave our spirit to settle for seven full days and let the flavours grow. We feel this adds to the distinctive taste that our Barra Atlantic Gin carries. From there, we label, bottle & ship all of our award-winning gin from our Family Distillery on the Isle of Barra, from our home to your hands, a labour of love.
Isle of Barra Gin Formula Focus on Family / ADA
CELEBRATE HOME, WITH FAMILY TO THE FORE
The sea that surrounds our Island home, the air that we breathe, the rich maritime history that is rooted in the isle, and the people who live here, this is our inspiration.
The Isle of Barra is undoubtedly an island of paradise, from its tropical blue sea to its vivid green land and pristine white sands, it really does have it all, including a unique castle-island and the world’s only beach airport! Our spirits fearlessly embody our place.
Our signature Atlantic Gin’s defining botanical is harvested by hand in the shallow waters of the shoreline.
HAND FORAGED FROM THE COAST OF BARRA
EACH PIECE OF OUR KEY BOTANICAL IS HAND PICKED FROM THE SHORES THAT SURROUND OUR ISLAND HOME, CREATING A BOLD FLAVOUR, RICH IN MARITIME NOTES.
Our signature botanical, the carrageen seaweed, is what makes our gin special. Also known by its scientific name chondrus crispus, carrageen seaweed is a red algae native to the cool Atlantic waters skirting europe’s rocky coastlines, including our beautiful Isle of Barra.
Like many of the other seaweed varieties found on the Scottish coast, carrageen is harvested after the spring tides, when the water is furthest from the shore. Once harvested, each piece of carrageen seaweed is washed through with fresh water and left outdoors for 5-6 weeks for the wind and sun to dry or ‘bleach’ as it is known on Barra.
Once the carrageen has dried and has changed colour to a light white/purple it is then ready to be used to create our award-winning spirit, the Barra Atlantic Gin.
Isle of Barra Gin Formula Focus on Family
This is our passion for our Island home, our Family Distillery & our Barra Atlantic Gin. Created with the essence of Barra at its core, our Barra Atlantic Gin is distilled using locally hand-harvested Carrageen Seaweed that is sourced sustainably from the shores that surround our Island home.
The idea for using the Carrageen seaweed came from the abundance around the Island, as well as from Michael’s childhood. Carrageen grows out of the ancient rocks that make up the Island’s coastline, which can only be sourced when the tide is at its lowest point, which is only a few times a year. The Carrageen is full of flavour, medicinal properties, and minerals.
“Both my grandparents and my mother have used Carrageen for ailments such as stomach aches as a tonic. It was always soothing and tasty, bringing back wonderful childhood memories, ” stated Co-Founder & Managing Director Michael Morrison.
17 HANDPICKED BOTANICALS
Each botanical plays an important part in our gin, which creates a unique and distinctive flavour that embodies the fearless Island spirit.
CARRAGEEN SEAWEED
Foraged from the shores of our remote Isle of Barra, Carrageen seaweed provides a bold, maritime flavour, with a mentholic lean and a pinch of salty air.
OUR BEAUTIFUL HOME
The marriage between our island home and the expansive sea that surrounds Barra’s rugged coastline is hidden in every bottle of Barra Atlantic Gin.
OUR FAMILY DISTILLERY
Standing out in the Atlantic on the far western edge of Scotland, you’ll find our home, our distillery. Distilled and bottled on the remote Scottish Island of Barra, our gin has a piece of our home in each bottle.
There are two sides to every story and ours is no different. The Isle of Barra is our family home but for a time we were away. Fearless spirit brought us back. The desire to return to our roots and create Scotland’s most westerly distillery. Start our own family on the edge of the Atlantic, the vast ocean that many of our courageous ancestors crossed, often leaving everything behind.
We are the lucky ones. Many people cannot return home. That is why we started our charity foundation, to create opportunities for more families to call Barra home. That is why we support the corncrake, an endangered bird species that returns to Barra every summer to nest and start their own families.
That is why we celebrate home. Creating the true taste Barra, sharing the best of our island, home and away, with family to the fore. There are two sides to the Isle of Barra Distillers story, with the wild Atlantic to the west, the tranquil Sound of Barra to the east.
Our home. Our inspiration. Our family.
THIS IS DISTILLING ON THE EDGE
Breaking the waves of the mighty Atlantic Ocean on the far western edge of Scotland, of Europe, the Isle of Barra is our home, our inspiration, our family. Distilling and bottling at Scotland’s most westerly distillery, we create the true taste Barra, sharing the best of our island home with the Barra family, home and away.
The Isle of Barra makes you feel alive, it makes you feel free. Come summer, the warming North Atlantic Drift brings our drop in the ocean calm, tranquil days and long, gentle nights – respite after the harsh winter; a tonic for the soul.
We call ourselves a family distillery, and we really are, but that goes way beyond our own family. It’s all about connections, making everyone welcome and sharing this amazing experience with as many people as possible, extending our family as we do so.
Isle of Barra Gin Formula Focus on Family / ADA
Isle of Barra Gin Formula Focus on Family / ADA
“ADA” OUR COPPER STILL
Throughout our story, the connection between the ‘Barra Family’ as we like to call it and our Island home can be felt.
This is found more so with our custom build copper still, ‘Ada’ who is named after the daughter of our Co-Owners Katie & Michael. Ada, their daughter, was born in the early part of 2020, and with the installation of the newly commissioned copper still being in the later part of 2020, it felt natural to call this beautiful still after an equally beautiful and just as firey little girl.
It was also helped with the advice from Forsyths, the world leading copper smiths who crafted our copper still, who said it is a tradition to name the still after a woman from the family. So, with that, it was just natural to name our still Ada.
Moving to our new still, Ada was something of enormous pride for the Barra Distillers Co. In the early years, we began with a small 50 litre still, which we learned so much from, then we added a 75 litre still to work alongside the existing 50 litre still, but with a little determination, we pushed on to the goal that we always had, that was to have a custom built still commissioned by Forysths.
So, to have our still Ada now installed and working as well as she does, means a great deal to our team and of course, holding the name Ada just makes it extra special.
OUR IMPACT & OUR CONTRIBUTION
Our commitment to our Island, the environment & the wider world is paramount to our Family Distillery. Part of our unique story is that our mail, which is all packaged by hand by our amazing team, actually utilises public transport routes.
This means that before landing on the mainland in Inverness, our mail and your orders pass through six separate Islands, one ferry journey & two plane trips. Doing this massively reduces the carbon footprint that our route would do if we didn’t utilise the already in-place public services.
THE SPIRIT OF BARRA, CAPTURED & BOTTLED
This is our passion for our Island home, our Family Distillery & our Barra Atlantic Gin. Created with the essence of Barra at its core, our Barra Atlantic Gin is distilled using locally hand-harvested Carrageen Seaweed that is sourced sustainably from the shores that surround our Island home.
The idea for using the Carrageen seaweed came from the abundance around the Island, as well as from Michael’s childhood. Carrageen grows out of the ancient rocks that make up the Island’s coastline, which can only be sourced when the tide is at its lowest point, which is only a few times a year
MORE THAN JUST A BOTTLE
The new vessel and the term vessel is an appropriate word as the connection from the Isle of Barra to the sea is endless, as is our relationship with the sea to our award-winning Gin.
We have moved away from using a stock bottle made from 100% flint glass to creating our very own custom-designed bottle but instead, our new bottles are produced from 78% recycled glass.
With the move to such a high percentage of recycled glass, each bottle varies & can’t be the same, and we feel this is part of the character. It feels like each bottle represents all the different characters from our Island home, all different, all with their story to tell
OUR PEOPLE
From our first batch of gin back in August 2017 to today, Isle of Barra Distillers Co. continues to operate as a family-run company, with family & Barra to the fore. The story began with husband and wife Michael and Katie, now the team has grown to six.
Our commitment is to create a lasting legacy for not just our generation but for the people & families that follow us.
The Isle of Barra Distillers is and always will be a focal point for good & will champion what the island of barra has to offer. A company so close to our hearts and our Island home is the primary drive behind the Isle of Barra Distillers continuous success.
Isle of Barra Gin Formula Focus on Family
OUR PACKAGING
WE’VE CREATED A PREMIUM GIN WITH A DISTINCTIVE TASTE SO IT HAS BEEN IMPORTANT TO US FOR THIS TO BE REFLECTED IN THE PACKAGING TOO, AND MAKE THE FINISHED PRODUCT AS UNIQUE ON SHELF AND ONLINE AS IT IS IN THE MOUTH.
Jemma Lewis, a hand-marbling artist based in Wiltshire, England was commissioned by the creative team behind Barra Atlantic Gin to create a bespoke, hand-marbled pattern to be used throughout our packaging.
Taking a colour palette inspired by Barra’s landscape and shores, Jemma used our signature botanical, carrageen, to create the unique marbling patterns which forms a physical link between our gin and packaging.
BARRA ATLANTIC GIN
The adventurous spirit of Barra people inspires our unique gin. Our main botanical, carrageen seaweed, is collected wild on the shores of the Isle of Barra. We want to create something that not only we can be proud of but that the wider Barra community can be proud of, giving back to our thriving island home.
Our award-winning Barra Atlantic Gin is now available in Waitrose & Partners branches across the UK. Our Island Spirit from the Outer Hebrides has been chosen for distribution by a UK-wide supermarket. Check our stockist map for your local Waitrose & share the taste of Barra.
Isle of Barra Gin Formula Focus on Family
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