Fidra Fine Spirits

The story of Fidra Fine Spirits is a tale of friendship and a journey of serendipitous discovery. Emma Bouglet and Jo Brydie, two friends with full-time careers and busy family lives, always found time for a catch-up over a gin and tonic. The idea of creating their own Scottish Gin was a recurring topic in their conversations. However, it was a visit from Jo’s husband Andy, who had just returned from the Isle of Jura, that set the wheels in motion for their brand and signature Scottish Gin.

During Andy’s trip to the Isle of Jura, he was introduced to Lussa Gin and the inspirational story about a group of female friends who loved a gin and wanted to put their island on the Scottish Gin map. The gin featured some locally grown and foraged botanicals and proudly displayed the island on the packaging.

Emma and Jo started foraging for potential gin botanicals around the coastline of North Berwick, slowly and carefully building a library of local botanicals. They also bought a small five-litre test still and began experimenting and developing various recipes, tweaking what worked and dismissing the botanicals that, upon tasting, didn’t add to the flavour profile Emma and Jo had in mind. The pair gradually developed a flavour profile that they felt captured their local landscape, had a great aroma and taste, and featured some key local botanicals.

Emma and Jo were both familiar with the local island of Fidra. This small, uninhabited island was said to have inspired Robert Louis Stevenson and his map for his famous novel Treasure Island. The island had served many purposes over the centuries and had seen various settlements come and go, including a chapel for the sick and infirm, a Castle, and, in the 18th century, a lighthouse manned until 1970, when it became the first unmanned lighthouse in the UK.

The friends knew the next step would be a distillery. However, they were not in a place to fund their own distillery and understood this would have to be a stage in their business that came later. The next best thing was seeking out a distiller and distillery who would collaborate with Emma and Jo and help them upscale their chosen recipe but also understood their vision of creating a gin that captured a sense of place.

As luck would have it, Emma and Jo met Walter Micklethwait, the distiller and owner of Inshriach Distillery, at a gin event. Emma and Jo knew Walter would be the perfect fit for the business and could provide invaluable guidance and support. With Walter’s help to upscale the recipe and refine the edges, Emma and Jo officially launched Fidra Gin in September 2018 with the long-term goal of opening a Fidra Distillery one day.

In 2022, Emma was presented with a dream job as a manager for Scotland’s Food & Drink County, promoting East Lothian’s food and drink brands and producers. After some lengthy deliberations, Emma decided the time was right to hand over complete control of Fidra Gin to her friend and co-founder Jo. Jo has continued to grow the brand and business with plans for future Fidra Gin releases and the goal of one day opening a dedicated Fidra Distillery in East Lothian.