Experience Scottish Gin

At Lost Loch Spirits Distillery, Deeside, Aberdeenshire.

Published: 6th November 2019

Our Experience Scottish Gin feature series discovers Scotland’s gin makers who offer a Scottish Gin experience. As the popularity of Scottish Gin continues to grow and numbers of visitors to Scotland grows year on year, there’s never been a better time to experience Scottish Gin for yourself. From distillery tours and gin and food pairing experiences to gin making and distillation schools, the number of experiences is diverse, guaranteeing there’s a Scottish Gin experience out there for you to discover and enjoy.

Established in January 2017 by friends Peter Dignan and Richard Pierce, The Lost Loch Distillery produces a variety of Scottish Spirits including eeNoo Scottish Gin, Murmichan Scottish Absinthe and Haroosh, a whisky and fruit based liqueur. In August 2019, the Lost Loch Spirits team officially opened their spirits school experience where visitors can distill their own gin, absinthe or botanical spirit. We caught up with Peter Dignan, distiller and co-founder, to learn more about their distillery experience.

We offer two experiences.  The first is a micro tour/tasting and includes the following:

The second experience we offer is our spirits school.  We want to give participants a hands-on experience so they can see what it is like to make a botanical spirit from scratch. This can be a gin but it can also be an absinthe or any botanical based spirit. We will teach the science, the tips and tricks, ratios and what botanicals complement each other but the final recipe comes down those around the still. The spirit school includes the following:

How long does your average Scottish Gin experience last?

The tours/tastings will be around 45 minutes in length and the school will last around 6 hours.  There is a lot to cover during the school and it’s best not to rush these things… people need time to perfect their recipes and the day should be fun not rushed.

What are some of the best bits of your Scottish Gin experience?

We have a massive range of over 100 botanicals, which includes everything from mushrooms to marigold flowers. Participants get hands-on with stills and all the tertiary equipment used in the production of a botanical spirit. The bar will be open all day so participants can indulge as they create. We offer an experience that is both fun and educational. We record all recipes produced and if participants want a recipe remade in any volume we can produce it for them at a later date. We want participants to leave with a real understanding of how a botanical spirit is made and to get an insight into how a craft distillery operates.

How many people can take part in your Scottish Gin experience?

We have 20 places on each tour and the maximum capacity for the Spirits School is 18 people, which equates to 3 people per still. Due to the costs involved with running the spirits school, we can’t operate unless we have a minimum of 5 persons. We can accommodate larger private groups for bespoke bookings. 

What’s the feedback from visitors?

Ask me in a year as we only opened in August!

How can visitors make a booking?

All bookings can be made via our website:  

For tours click here.

For the Spirits School click here.

For private bespoke bookings, we can be contacted on info@lostloch.com.

Do you think Scottish Gin experiences are an important part of the story of Scottish Gin?

People want the experience, they want to meet the makers in their natural environment, to interact and be part of a process. They want to see where and how gin is made and when they visit, we like to think we create a brand ambassador for Lost Loch but also for Scottish gin as a brand. On the back of whisky, Scottish gin is getting a foothold abroad. It is important that when tourists visit Scotland, we are able to offer them gin based experiences. This helps cement Scottish gin as a brand globally, similar to the way Scottish whisky has been cemented across the globe.   

What are some of the other attractions in your local area that you would recommend visitors check out?

Royal Deeside has a lot to offer visitors. One of the main attractions is Balmoral Castle, but you can only visit when the Queen is out. There are walks galore for all abilities and plenty of climbing routes in winter and summer. There is fishing on the River Dee and for a bird’s eye view of Deeside, it’s worth booking a flight with Deeside Gliding Club. In the winter there is skiing at the Glenshee and the Lecht. There are 1000’s of miles of mountain bike tracks. You could spend 2 weeks on your bike and not cover the same route twice. The distillery is located on the site of Deeside Activity Park, who offer all sorts of outdoor activities form quad bike touring to archery. There are also an abundance of eateries and drinking establishments. The list goes on and on but Deeside is a great place to visit and you won’t be bored.

You can learn more about Lost Loch Spirits here.

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