Dunnet Bay Distillers Ltd

Rock Rose Gin and Holy Grass Vodka

Our goal is to create spirits which reflect the Caithness way. We hand distil slowly, thoughtfully and passionately to create our exceptional products.

Founded in 2014, by husband and wife team Claire and Martin Murray, Dunnet Bay Distillery, the UK’s most northerly mainland distillery is located on the North Coast 500 route. This craft distillery is famous for producing the acclaimed Rock Rose Gin and Holy Grass Vodka, featuring hand-foraged botanicals sourced from the spectacular cliffs of the Pentland Firth, Dunnet Forest or grown in the distillery’s own garden. Working with the oldest still makers in the world our bespoke pot stills, Elizabeth and Margaret, have been uniquely designed just to create our spirits. Using a traditional handmade copper head along with botanical vapour basket, it is a small batch process of 500 litres. This ensures tremendous care can be applied to achieve best results. Each bottle is filled, individually wax-sealed, batch numbered and hand-signed before it leaves the distillery.

Dunnet Bay Distillery is a small, but first-class brand located in the tiny, remote village of Dunnet, Caithness. This independent family-owned business provides much needed employment in a fragile rural economy. The distillery currently employs 16 staff members to create and market its multi award-winning spirits and promote tourism in Caithness. This has all been achieved without external investment, crowdfunding and with no previous experience of, or connections with the drinks industry.

In April 2018, the distillery opened its new Visitor Centre comprising Shop, Tasting Room and a special event kitchen all housed within a restored 20th century cattle-shed with a retro vibe designed by Claire Murray. Martin and Claire Murray are both passionate about the heritage of Caithness and the interior of the Visitor Centre uses Caithness stone and local wood to create a stunning venue for the visitor experience showcasing local vernacular architecture and artisan materials. The goal of the Visitor Centre, which the Murray’s delivered 7-years ahead of their business plan, which is truly exceptional takes advantage of Dunnet’s strategic position on the North Coast 500 and John O’ Groats to Lands’ End tourist routes. The distillery, the 3rd most visited attraction in Caithness in 2018 promotes the county’s unique heritage and encourages exploration through its guided tours and special events programme. These activities all bring the tourist pound into a fragile rural economy, creating employment for local people and of course giving tourists the opportunity to enjoy a delicious G&T! Within 6-months of opening, the Visitor Centre secured a highly sought-after 5-star rating from VisitScotland, recognising it as one of Scotland’s top tourist attractions. It is highly unusual for a visitor attraction to be awarded a 5-star rating in its first 6-months of operation highlighting not only the quality of the distillery visitor facilities but also the exceptional level of customer service delivered by its staff. This 5-star rating was awarded in part for the distillery’s guided tours, which run at least twice a day, Monday to Saturday at 11am and 2pm and in 2019 cost £15 per person.

Visitors start their guided tour with a Rock Rose Gin and Tonic on a comfy couch by a wood-burning stove, before walking to the distillery to learn about the distilling and bottling process. Back in the Tasting Room the experience concludes with an interactive tasting of the distillery’s award-winning spirits. Dunnet Bay Distillery is a TripAdvisor 5-star attraction, holding a Certificate of Excellence for consistently great visitor reviews. It is currently 1 of only 3 VisitScotland 5-star attractions in Caithness.

Continually striving to put Caithness on the tourist map and provide high-class cultural facilities for a population lacking in venues but with a keen and active interest in culture the Dunnet Bay Distillery is working with other attractions, food producers, artists and groups such as the Caithness Disabled Access Panel and the Caithness Broch Project to provide memorable experiences and opportunities for destination marketing. This includes the development of an Access Plan to encourage more disabled visitors to Caithness, the creation of a Family Activity Pack for children who participate on guided tours and the marketing and delivery of special events and limited-edition Caithness themed spirits! Distillery staff take visitor feedback seriously and through continuous professional development constantly evolve and enhance the visitor experience. These activities are all delivered by proud and passionate local ambassadors and feed into the 2018 Scottish Government’s ‘Food Tourism Scotland’ plan and The Highland Council’s ‘Caithness and Sutherland Local Development Plan’.

Dunnet Bay Distillery is not content to rest on its laurels! Claire, Martin and their team are constantly planning future developments to enhance tourism and cultural provision such as hosting the Visitor Centre’s first art exhibition in winter 2019/2020 entitled ‘Inspired By Gin’ which will promote local artists and create sustainable out of season cultural experiences for tourists and local people. This is a highly innovative business that is constantly striving to be the best in its field and a recent TripAdvisor review labelled it as a ‘Tip top tastic’ visitor attraction.