Saxa Vord distillery explained

Saxa Vord distillery
Location:Isle of Unst
Founded:2015
Type:Island

Saxa Vord distillery is a Scotch whisky and gin distillery on the island of Unst, part of the Shetland islands.[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] 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.[6]

It is the most northerly distillery in the United Kingdom.[7] [8] The distillery is the first legal distillery on the Shetland Islands and the first ever legal whisky in Shetland.[8]

History

The distillery company was first established in 2012 by Wilma and Stuart Nickerson (formerly of William Grant & Sons), and Frank and Debbie Strang.[2] [6] By 2013, plans proposed modifying former RAF buildings at Saxa Vord to house the distillery.[9] The first gin was produced in August 2015 and the first blended whisky released in November 2015.[4]

Products

The distillery produces drinks under the Shetland Reel brand.[4] Their standard products include an island-distilled gin and a blended Single malt whisky. The gin is made with botanicals include apple mint.[8] [10]

The company exports its products to numerous countries, including the US, Canada and Sweden.[7]

The distillery has also produced a limited cask-aged gin.[11]

Notes and References

  1. Book: Wishart, David . 2020 . Whisky Classified. Choosing Single Malts by Flavour . Pavilion Books . 263 . 978-1911595731.
  2. Book: Ridley, Neil . 2019. The World of Whisky. Taste, Try and Enjoy Whiskies from Around the World . Pavilion Books . 978-1911663072.
  3. Book: Laing, Fiona . 2019 . The Gin Clan: Scottish Gins and Distilleries . Great Northern Books . 978-1912101481.
  4. Web site: Shetland Reel . 7 October 2022 . Scotch Whisky.com.
  5. Book: Buxton, Ian . 2017 . Whiskies Galore. A Tour of Scotland's Island Distilleries . Birlinn . 271 . 978-0857903518.
  6. Web site: Private equity firm buys £2m stake in Shetland satellite launch site . 19 February 2020 . Insider . 7 October 2022.
  7. Web site: Scotland's most northerly gin maker wins export deals with US, Canada and Sweden . Scotsman . 7 October 2022.
  8. Web site: Shetland distiller takes title of most northerly UK gin . 21 August 2014 . The Spirits Business . 7 October 2022.
  9. News: Shetland whisky ambition at former Saxa Vord RAF base . 24 September 2013 . BBC News . 7 October 2022.
  10. News: I have a dram: meet the whisky micro-distillers springing up across Scotland . The Guardian . 27 December 2015 . 7 October 2022. Carrell . Severin .
  11. Web site: Shetland Reel Up Helly Aa cask aged gin is back on sale for 2022 . 20 January 2022 . Scotsman . 7 October 2022.

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