Isle of Cumbrae love of gin and passion

11 Guildford St, Millport, Isle of Cumbrae KA28 0AE, Verenigd Koninkrijk

MEET OUR TEAM

Bronwyn Jenkins-Deas

Born on Vancouver Island, Canada, Bronwyn retired from a 30+ year career in International Education in the US and Canada. A regular visitor to Millport since 2002, she and her Edinburgh born husband, Edwin, are part-time Millport residents.

I love walking or cycling the island and chatting with people, participating in community events and beach cleans, and watching the spectacular sunsets from our cottage. I am a huge foodie and love learning about traditional Scottish cuisine – and yes, I love haggis! I am so excited to be part of this enterprise and to be able to contribute to Millport’s economic success.

Bronwyn

Lynda Gill

Born in Birmingham, Lynda and her family spent several years in Bahrain before settling in the US, where she developed a successful career in California as a hotelier and leader in the travel industry. She and her husband John were introduced to Millport in 2018.

We knew the moment we stepped off the ferry that we wanted to call the island home. Was it the outstanding natural beauty of the island, the welcoming community or the feeling of peace and tranquility? Yes, yes and yes. I love taking my dogs for walks along Newton Sands beach, just steps from our front door, or up to the top of the island to the Glaid Stone, where the 360° views across the Firth of Clyde are breathtaking.

Lynda

Juli Dempsey

Born in New Jersey, USA, Juli moved from California to Millport after a 20+ year career in mental health nursing, global education and project management. I was immediately welcomed into the community. Like most locals and many visitors, I feel an immediate sense of calm when stepping off of the ferry at the Cumbrae slip.

This place has a magic all its own and I love sharing this beauty with visitors through my businesses and now through Isle of Cumbrae Distillers. When not working, you’ll find me out with my Cairn terrier, Bailey; often chatting with friends and island visitors in the pub.

Juli

Philippa Dalton

Born in Chester, Philippa retired from a successful career as a secondary school teacher, moving to Cumbrae with her husband Tony in 2018. Although we get our fair share of wild weather, there is a softness, a tranquility and a friendliness here that I find irresistible.

Since arriving, I have become the owner of Bob, our Cairn terrier, a keen, if slightly left footed, Scottish country dancer and I am able to indulge in my passion for wildlife, gardening, raising chickens, beekeeping and am now excited to be part of the creation of the Isle of Cumbrae’s own gin.

Philippa

Jenine Ward

Born in Yorkshire and emerging from a career in the Volunteer sector, Jenine and her partner Hans moved to Millport 10 years ago, after many wonderful years travelling countries in Europe and around the world. There is a saying here that living in Millport is the way life is supposed to be. I don’t know if it’s because there is a colony of seals that live just outside my bedroom window, or that fact that the town hosts an array of festivals and themed weekends or the truly stunning environment… but I couldn’t agree more. I am delighted to be part of a business that will contribute to the future success of the island.

Jenine

Isle of Cumbrae love of gin and passion

OUR BOTANICALS

A superior gin begins with Juniper.

In fact, if you don’t have juniper…well, you have vodka! In order for a gin to qualify as such, it must have juniper and it must be at least 37.5% abv. A craft gin is normally a minimum of 40%. We often refer to Juniper as a berry but, in fact, juniper ‘berries’ are very small cones, each one retaining rich essential oils, which we carefully extract during the distillation process to create our gin.

NOSTALGIN

In choosing our main botanicals, we tried to capture the transformation people describe when making their short ferry journey from Largs to Cumbrae; an instant lifting of stress, to a feeling of calm serenity. Our first thought was lavender. Our intention in using lavender is to awaken your senses with something fresh and light, to make you take notice of the ocean and the mountains surrounding you.

We’ve paired the distinctive taste of lavender with ripe, fresh bramble, a berry that dominates our island coast in September and is an abundant local resource for our gin. Its complex flavours mirror the transformation, taking you from an awakening of the senses to a feeling of utter peace and calm.

Finally, we chose a hint of sweet orange to complement the lavender and blackberry, to add a juicy, rich and flavourful blend to the main botanicals. We topped our recipe off with a dash of noble Scottish thistle and a smidgen of heather, considered to bring good luck and protection.

TASTING NOTES

Nose: Floral, fruit, citrus

Palate: Lavender, bramble, orange, juniper Finish; Fresh with citrus tang

PERFECT POUR

Nostalgin is best served with a light tonic and a slice of orange

CROC ROCK Gin

Croc botanical jpeg.jpg — Isle of Cumbrae love of gin and passion

We all love the Croc and felt no botanical could better represent our affection than cacao, the main ingredient in dark chocolate…we are happy to report that none of the calories get transferred. Cacao’s antioxidant potential has a range of health benefits including reducing stress levels. A weekend in Millport and a bottle of our gin; it’s exactly what the doctor ordered!

When the smooth silky taste of chocolate meets the bright zesty notes of orange in a bottle of gin, no two flavours hit it off better, the bittersweet astringency of the cacao complementing the sweet robust orange in a perfect balance. And finally, we chose stem ginger as our final feature botanical, because crocodiles do have the potential to bite. Cooked slowly in syrup to give a warm richness, fresh citrusy aromas and a slight kick of heat, ginger creates an exotic, gentle warmth to the finish.

TASTING NOTES

Nose: Sweet, warm, citrus
Palate: Chocolate, ginger, orange, juniper Finish: A slight kick of heat and an exotic, gentle warmth to the finish

PERFECT POUR

Croc Rock Gin is best served with a light tonic and a slice of orange or ginger

RESTORATION GIN

Restoration Gin’s is a limited release gin commemorating the restoration of the heart of our community – Millport’s historic town hall. We thought long and hard about which botanicals would best tell the story and the first one we chose was pineapple. The pineapple is the symbol of hospitality and is considered an expression of welcome and celebration, which we felt was a perfect fit for the Town Hall story.

We also loved the marriage of pineapple with another exotic fruit, mango. Symbol of love and happiness, the Mango encourages us to remember and honour happy moments in our childhood and in our life to rejuvenate the soul; it signals a period of returning to our past to reconnect with friends, family and places; it reminds us to focus on happy times.

The final botanical we have included is Elderberry. Known for its fragrant white flowers and glossy purple berries, the noble elder was believed to be magical and the ancient Celts believed that the tree protected us from negative influences and symbolized good health and prosperity.

The elder tree is connected with the circle of life, death and rebirth. And we felt this botanical really captured the restoration of Millport Town’s Hall, which had a full and vibrant life from its birth in 1878, a death with its closure and now we celebrate a rebirth with its restoration

TASTING NOTES

Nose: Deep and fruity
Palate: Pineapple, mango, juniper and slight peppery tones Finish; Fresh with rich fruit flavours

PERFECT POUR

Restoration Gin is best served with a light tonic and a slice of pineapple or orange

MAURA Gin

Maura is inspired by Scotland’s history, by local tales and legends, and by the coastal landscapes and glistening waters of the West Coast. Our botanicals feature delicate wildflowers and berries of Scotland’s West Coast. We also selected botanicals whose origins are rooted in female folklore.

Raspberry is the essence of the Feminine. Tempting with her sweet taste, she is also potent and powerful, with a provocative aftertaste that both surprises and delights.

We married the tantalizing raspberry with the sweet and tasty Scottish blaeberry, symbolizing an optimistic future, good health, inner peace, and satisfaction in life.

We also added sweet red clover. The leaves of a four-leaf clover are said to represent faith, hope, love and luck; and finally we added elderflower, whose flowers symbolise physical and emotional healing and wards off evil spirits.

TASTING NOTES

Nose: light and fruity.

Palate: Raspberry, Blaeberry, juniper;

notes of orange and grapefruit

Finish: Fresh with a smooth fruit finish

PERFECT POUR

Maura is best served with a light tonic and a slice of orange or pink grapefruit

OUR TARTANS

When we set out to design our label, we knew we wanted something that would scream ‘Scotland’ – what better way than with a tartan! All of our gins sport original tartans that have been created to showcase the gin botanicals.

The Nostalgin and Maura tartans have both been officially registered with the Scottish Register of Tartans -probably the only gins in the world with their own official tartans.

Visit Us

Isle of Cumbrae love of gin and passion

ACCESSIBILITY

Isle of Cumbrae Distillers is located in the heart of Millport, on the main shopping street.

Whether you take a tour, visit our shop, or enjoy a gin tasting, we strive to ensure

you have an exceptional customer experience.

We are accessible for wheelchair users and will do our best to cater for anyone with other specific access requirements. Please get in touch at info@isleofcumbrae-distillers.com or call 01475 530173 if you require any further information about specific access or need advice on planning your visit.

TRAVEL BY LOCAL TRANSPORT

Cumbrae can be reached by public transport. There are regular trains from Glasgow Central to the seaside town of Largs. Travel from Glasgow Central to Largs takes approximately 50 minutes.

For schedule and fare information and to arrange any required travel assistance, please visit https://www.scotrail.co.uk/

The distance from Largs station to the Largs ferry terminal is approximately 300 Metres.
Taxis meet each train outside the station.

The ferry journey from Largs to Cumbrae is approximately 8 minutes. Ferries run every 30 minutes on the quarter hour in the winter and every 15 minutes in the summer. For the most up-to-date ferry information and to arrange any required travel assistance, please visit https://www.calmac.co.uk/

You can travel to Isle of Cumbrae Distillers by bus from the Cumbrae Ferry slip. Buses meet the ferries and transport visitors into Millport. The bus ride takes approximately 10 minutes and costs £3.50 return. For more information about travelling by bus in Millport please visit https://www.millportmotorsltd.com/

The nearest bus stop to the distillery is across from Garrison House. The bus stop is 150 metres from the distillery. Please ask the bus driver to let you off at the Garrison House bus stop or ask them to drop you off at the stop closest to our distillery. Buses are handicap accessible and the Garrison bus stop is raised to accommodate wheelchair access.

TRAVEL BY TAXI

You can arrange a taxi from the Cumbrae Ferry slip to Millport with Cumbrae Cabs by calling

01475 530666. Cumbrae Cabs have a wide range of taxis available from 5-seater taxis to 9-seater minibuses and wheelchair accessible taxis are also available. Accessible taxis must be booked in advance. To access Isle of Cumbrae Distillers please ask to be dropped off at our front entrance.