Lind & Lime Gin Distillery

The historic Port of Leith, in the Leith district of Edinburgh, was a vital hub in Scotland’s maritime and trading history. It served as a gateway for goods entering and leaving Edinburgh. As early as the 14th century, the port, thanks to its strategic position on the Firth of Forth, helped facilitate trade with Europe and beyond. The Port of Leith became synonymous with the import of luxury goods such as wine, spices, and silks, as well as the export of Scottish staples like wool, whisky, and coal. The port’s success helped establish several new businesses in the area, including shipbuilding and repairs, spice and botanical merchants, textiles and fabrics manufacturers, and various distilleries and taverns.

In addition to global trade, the Port of Leith also played a crucial role in Scotland’s naval history. The port was a strategic stronghold during periods of conflict, including the Wars of Independence and the Napoleonic Wars. It also served as a point of departure for emigrants and soldiers, shaping Scotland’s diaspora. Today, while its role as a commercial port has diminished, the Port of Leith and the wider Leith area of Edinburgh continue to symbolise the area’s cultural legacy and significant contribution to Scotland’s economic and cultural development.

Childhood friends Ian Stirling and Patrick “Paddy” Fletcher shared a passion for wine and spirits and an interest in Edinburgh and Leith’s historic ties to the sea and distillation. Ian’s background was in wine and beverages, where he worked with several retailers, leading and developing their on-trade and off-trade services. Paddy’s background was in finance and technology. He worked for various tech start-ups in London, eventually taking on the Finance Director role, whose responsibilities included overseeing several accusations and contributing to his employer’s successful and rapid growth at the time.

With their passion for whisky and spirits and shared business acumen, Ian Stirling and Paddy first discussed starting a distillery in Leith in 2013. Over the next three years, Ian and Paddy travelled the world speaking to potential investors, refining their business plan and developing ideas for their brands and products. Eventually, Ian and Paddy established the Tower Street Still House in 2017. It was a small industrial unit just a stone’s throw away from Leith’s main port area. It was home to Genio spirit still, a bottling area and a 12ft by 6ft shed that served as the main office. It was also around this time that Ian was introduced to distiller James Porteoues, founder of Electric Spirit Company. Ian invited James to join the Tower Street Still House, where he could use the distillery to distil his Achroos Gin and where the two businesses could support each other.

Ian and Paddy understood their goal of opening the Port of Leith Distillery and beginning whisky production would be several years away, and similar to other Scottish distilleries, the production of Scottish Gin would provide some additional income and help establish their place in the world of Scottish spirits. With the help and support of James Porteous, the concept for Lind & Lime Gin took shape. Ian and Paddy knew that to stand out, they would need a liquid that tasted great, had a sound story behind it, plus was eye-catching. With a rich history and several significant historical characters, Ian and Paddy discovered the story of James Lind, a Scottish physician and pioneering naval surgeon from Edinburgh. Lind’s research into citrus and scurvy eventually proved critical in the treatment of the disease; along with his clinical evidence-based approach research, Lind’s work and approach had a long-lasting, positive impact on the world of medicine.

Lind & Lime Gin launched in December 2018 with its bespoke glass bottle, unique shape, clean, modern label, and a recipe featuring all the elements of classic London Dry gin. A balanced, juniper and citrus-forward Scottish Gin, with lime taking centre stage as an ode to James Lind’s research into citrus, Lind & Lime Gin helped set another benchmark for Scottish Gin. With its stunning bottle, great story, and delicious liquid, the popularity of Lind & Lime Gin grew quickly. With space at a premium at the Tower Street Still House, Ian and Paddy knew they would need a much larger distillery space to support the growth of the Lind & Lime Gin brand. Even though the Tower Street Still House seemed to be constantly cold, the quirky use of a shed as an office often led to plenty of laughs and smiles from visitors; the space would play an invaluable part in Ian and Paddy’s story. From developing Lind & Lime Gin to developing yeasts and researching crops for future whisky production, the release of a Sherry and a Port under their Mucklebrig brand, the Tower Street Still House was a vital stepping stone and an important chapter in Edinburgh’s distilling history.

In May 2022, the Lind & Lime Gin Distillery and visitor experience on Coburg Street in Leith, Edinburgh, opened its doors. It was another milestone in Ian and Paddy’s story. With its 1000 litre engineered copper still powered by green renewable electricity, space for several visitors’ experiences, shop area, and centrally heated offices, the new distillery would help with growing demand for Lind & Lime Gin and provide a welcoming space where visitors could see firsthand where and how Lind & Lime Gin was distilled and bottled.

From the initial idea in 2013, Ian and Paddy finally realised their dream of opening Leith’s first whisky distillery in over one hundred years when the Port of Leith Distillery officially opened its doors in October 2023. The UK’s first vertical whisky distillery, the Port of Leith Distillery, was over a decade in the making and a culmination of Ian and Paddy’s ambition to establish a whisky distillery that honoured Leith’s distilling heritage and history, but also a space for creation and innovation in whisky. Across all their ventures, Ian and Paddy have helped put Leith back on the international distilling stage as a place of exciting premium spirits brands, world class spirits production and demonstrated the importance of great storytelling that honours those who have come before but also sets the bar high for what a modern Scottish spirits business can accomplish.