Saxa Vord Distillery
 | |
| Region: Island | |
|---|---|
| Location | Isle of Unst |
| Founded | 2015 |
Saxa Vord distillery is a Scotch whisky and gin distillery on the island of Unst, part of the Shetland islands. The distillery takes its name from its location immediately south of RAF Saxa Vord, an RAF station and headland. The distillery buildings are adjacent to the SaxaVord Spaceport.
It is the most northerly distillery in the United Kingdom. The distillery is the first legal distillery on the Shetland Islands and the first ever legal whisky in Shetland.
History
The distillery company was first established in 2012 by Wilma and Stuart Nickerson (formerly of William Grant & Sons), and Frank and Debbie Strang. By 2013, plans proposed modifying former RAF buildings at Saxa Vord to house the distillery. The first gin was produced in August 2015 and the first blended whisky released in November 2015.
Products
The distillery produces drinks under the Shetland Reel brand. Their standard products include an island-distilled gin and a blended Single malt whisky. The gin is made with botanicals include apple mint.
The company exports its products to numerous countries, including the US, Canada and Sweden.
The distillery has also produced a limited cask-aged gin.
References
- ^ Wishart, David (2020). Whisky Classified. Choosing Single Malts by Flavour. Pavilion Books. p. 263. ISBN 978-1911595731.
- ^ Ridley, Neil (2019). The World of Whisky. Taste, Try and Enjoy Whiskies from Around the World. Pavilion Books. ISBN 978-1911663072.
- ^ Laing, Fiona (2019). The Gin Clan: Scottish Gins and Distilleries. Great Northern Books. ISBN 978-1912101481.
- ^ "Shetland Reel". Scotch Whisky.com. Retrieved 7 October 2022.
- ^ Buxton, Ian (2017). Whiskies Galore. A Tour of Scotland's Island Distilleries. Birlinn. p. 271. ISBN 978-0857903518.
- ^ "Private equity firm buys £2m stake in Shetland satellite launch site". Insider. 19 February 2020. Retrieved 7 October 2022.
- ^ "Scotland's most northerly gin maker wins export deals with US, Canada and Sweden". Scotsman. Retrieved 7 October 2022.
- ^ "Shetland distiller takes title of most northerly UK gin". The Spirits Business. 21 August 2014. Retrieved 7 October 2022.
- ^ "Shetland whisky ambition at former Saxa Vord RAF base". BBC News. 24 September 2013. Retrieved 7 October 2022.
- ^ Carrell, Severin (27 December 2015). "I have a dram: meet the whisky micro-distillers springing up across Scotland". The Guardian. Retrieved 7 October 2022.
- ^ "Shetland Reel Up Helly Aa cask aged gin is back on sale for 2022". Scotsman. 20 January 2022. Retrieved 7 October 2022.
