Barra (bærə Scottish Gaelic: Barraigh or Eilean Bharraigh Scots: Barra) is an island in the Outer Hebrides, Scotland, and the second southernmost inhabited island there, after the adjacent island of Vatersay to which it is connected by the Vatersay Causeway. The island is named after Saint Finbarr of Cork.
In 2011, the population was 1,174. English and Gaelic are widely spoken, and at the 2011 Census, there were 761 Gaelic speakers (62% of the population, falling from 76% in the 1991 census).
ISLE OF BARRA, SCOTLAND
Barra puffins.
Puffins can be seen at a number of locations around the Scottish coast, including the Isle of May, Fidra, Craigleith, St Kilda, Orkney and Shetland. In the breeding season they gather at nesting sites (puffinries), which are usually burrows located on grassy clifftops.
Isle of Barra Gin.
Castlebay, Isle of Barra HS9 5XF, Verenigd Koninkrijk
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 DISTILLERS
The adventurous spirit of Barra people inspires this unique gin. The award- winning Barra Atlantic Gin is distilled from 17 handpicked botanicals foraged from the island shores, capturing the essence of Scotland’s most westward Isle. Born from the island, every drop is distilled, bottled and labelled by people of the Isle, and on the Isle of Barra.
ISLAND BORN, FEARLESS SPIRIT.
Atlantic Gin. Barra.
Distilled using seventeen botanicals including locally island foraged Carrageen, a type of red algae that grows on the shores and shallow waters surrounding the island. This provides a flavour profile that is intended to roll across the tongue like the mighty Atlantic surf breaking on Barra shores. A balance of floral and herbal notes with juniper, citrus and slight salt creates a refreshing and clean flavour with a warm spice on the finish. The distillery launched their new custom bottle in November 2022, produced from 78% recycled glass. It’s also 17% lighter, plastic free and entirely recyclable.
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.
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