What inspired the idea for creating Rhidorroch Distillery? It all started ten years ago with a conversation with my dad. We’d been talking about creating our own distillery as we had the perfect location and ingredients for it.  I went away and travelled, working in different distilleries along the way to broaden my ideas and then came back and created Rhidorroch Distillery. 

What is special about Rhidorroch Gin? The fact that we use water flowing by the distillery and forage local botanicals makes it very special and gives it a particularly ‘local’ flavour that’s close to my heart and the reason for the distillery. Loch Achall is the heart of the glen and its beating river flows west towards Ullapool.  On its way the stunningly crystal cold water winds alongside the distillery and is used in the gin production and in the gin itself. The loch’s surrounding hills are home to an array of wildlife from furry animals to succulent plants. Botanicals such as gorse flower, heather, rowan berries and a little juniper are handpicked and they are what gives the gin its floral and citrus flavour.

What is next for Rhiddoroch? We recently created a pop-up next to The Seafood Shack in Ullapool which has been very popular with locals and visitors alike and we are very much looking forward to continuing with that this summer. From there we serve gin and tonic and two special gin-based cocktails, Loch Achall Gin bottles, Gift boxes and T-shirts which have all gone down a storm so far!