Hello Miles here, thank you for taking the time to read this blog post! 

It has been non stop in both the Distillery and Studio this month. I’ve been hard at work pushing things forward getting the building warrant completed at the Distillery and overcoming yet more hurdles; mainly fire regulations… We are now installing a pond which I’m keen to turn into the Igneous Nature Pool (but more on that another time). Katie has been non stop mixing, staining, casting, fettling and firing to create various versions of our final bottle; not to mention getting to grip with Teine (our Kiln), she’s becoming the master of Stoneware with a stone like determination.

Subsequently I can only describe our studio and home life as a mixture of gin and ceramic stoneware bottles. Everywhere you look there is a stoneware bottle…but don’t let me convince you that this is anything other than a dream come true. We are both utterly in love with our bottle. The feel, the weight, the individual nature of each and every bottle created, by the subtle colour differences due to the firing process, the marbling vein effects created from pouring the casting slip or even just the fact that 6 months ago it wasn’t even an idea that we would be creating it.

The work that has gone into creating it boggles the mind and we can’t lie, it would not have been possible without the help of several people along the way. Mostly our friends at JamHot, the guys have been so patient with us in our constant drive for the Never Ever Ordinary; I think it’s a running joke now that every time we hit a hurdle, we seem to retrain and open a new arm of the business to accommodate. So it was a delight to be able to deliver them one of our many sample bottles which I’m pleased to say they loved!

Also we can’t thank our friends Kate and David enough for holding our hands through the steep learning process of slip casting and making our moulds which would have been impossible any other way.

As the weather (finally) begins to warm up and the cold stormy winds coming off the Ardnamurchan coastline turn to gentle warming breezes of sea air; fast approaching June we are aiming to have the Distillery more or less complete by the end of the month before our final premises licence can be applied for in anticipation of selling to all our lovely followers in August.

Thanks to Katies hard work in the Studio creating our final samples and testers, we have been able to get things moving with our Stopper which we can’t wait to show you all and it really does add the additional touch of luxury and design to the bottle. We have also progressed heavily with our label which should be getting printed in June and we are very pleased to be working with GF Smith for our paper supplier for these gorgeous labels.

Looking ahead, July will be all about our gorgeous West Highland Dry Gin as we aim to get production in full swing at the Distillery. The momentous moment when we can finally knit the two lovingly crafted elements of Igneous Gin together. Filling our first bottles is in sight and we cannot wait to share it with you.

So for now we leave you to enjoy the rest of Spring and once again remind you to keep an eye on our social media for the journey along the Road Less Travelled.