Pixel Spirits is a craft distillery set in the scenic grounds of the Loch Leven Hotel in North Ballachulish, Scottish Highlands. Founded by husband and wife team, Craig and Noru Innes, the distillery has been self-built from scratch, with the help of various friends and family members. This is in the core of their values – handcrafted, bespoke and personal.
The Pixel Spirits Distillery is true to craft, being self-built from the shell of a 17th century A frame barn. They have painstakingly laboured to restore the barn and upgraded it to the standards of a current new build. Led by Craig, the Master Distiller, the Pixel Spirits team hand forage botanicals in the local area to create their artisan gins, which are carefully handcrafted in small batches of less than 100 bottles. They also run a gin making school where you can make your own unique small batch Scottish Gin.
Devil's Staircase gin is named after a legendary trek in the West Highlands of Scotland. Now part of The West Highland Way, this steep mountain ascent has claimed more than its fair share of victims and hence why it was named Devil’s Staircase. This Highland Spiced Gin has the flavours of beautiful citrus zest, warm cardamom and nutmeg. Enjoyed best in the company of friends after a rugged munro trek. Devil’s Staircase will warm the palate and relax the body.
Key Botanical(s): Nutmeg, Cardamom, Citrus Peel
Gin Style: London Dry
Strength: 42% vol
Goes great with: Orange peel, a few cardamom pods, tonic and ice.
Dookit Piper Highland Craft Gin is a play on the Scottish word for soaked or drenched. A London Dry gin distilled using pomelo, its scientific name is Citrus maxima, a rich citrus fruit native to south Asia. Along with juicy oranges, kaffir lime leaves and meadowsweet, this is a citrus forward gin that bursts with carefully balanced citrus flavours.
Key Botanical(s): Pomelo, Oranges, Kaffir Leaves
Gin Style: London Dry
Strength: 40% vol
Goes great with: A twist of orange peel, tonic and ice.
The most recent addition to the core range of Pixel Spirits Gins is Drookit Hoose, which means extremely wet or drenched House in Scots. This London Dry style gin features a number of local botanicals including tangy rowan berries, calming heather and nectareous silver birch sap. Other core botanicals include zesty grapefruit, aromatic rosehip and a hint of pungent pink pepper.
Key Botanical(s): Rowan Berries, Heather, Silver Birch Sap, Grapefruit, Rosehip, Pink Pepper
Gin Style: London Dry
Strength: 40% vol
Goes great with: A twist of grapefruit peel, elderflower tonic and ice.
This is a savoury gin having been vapour infused with smooth capped chanterelles. Traditionally distilled with the chanterelles held in the vapour stream to ensure a beautiful, subtle savoury character.
Key Botanical(s): Nutmeg, Cardamom, Citrus Peel
Gin Style: London Dry
Strength: 43% vol
Goes great with: A twist of lemon, Mediterranean or light tonic and ice.
This oak aged craft gin has been infused with the flavours and colours of former herb liqueur barrels for a minimum of six months. Described as a spice forward gin, imparting a light golden colour and herbal aromatic and slightly medicinal flavour and nose.
Key Botanical(s): Nutmeg, Cardamom, Citrus Peel
Gin Style: Cask Aged
Strength: 43% vol
Goes great with: A small splash of Aromatic tonic or enjoy as part of a Sbagliato cocktail.
Located in the grounds of the Loch Leven Hotel in picturesque North Ballachulish in the Scottish Highlands, the Pixel Spirits Distillery and Gin School is home to the Pixel Spirits range of Scottish Gin expressions including Devils’s Staircase Highland Spiced Gin and Drookit Piper. The distillery produces gins using its 100 litre iStill named Orsetta (little bear). The distillery is also home to the Pixel Spirits Gin School where visitors can learn more about the art of distillation, explore and discover a variety of botanicals before distilling, bottling and labelling their own gin creation using one of the traditional copper pot stills. The gin school experience lasts approximately four hours and includes a 70cl bottle of your own gin finished with your own bespoke label.
Gin School: Yes
Booking: Book a gin school experience here
You can learn more about the maker by clicking the links below.
