Stornoway Distillers

Gez and his fiancée Nat first came to the Isle of Lewis to visit a university friend. As confessed foodies they were excited to explore the island’s food and drink scene and discover so many innovative local producers. Both were smitten with the beauty of the island scenery as a backdrop for their passion for outdoor pursuits. They returned to the island a few months later and made the life changing decision to relocate to the Isle of Lewis, making the move later that year in the depths of their first Hebridean winter.

Nat, a pharmacist, quickly resumed her career, while Gez, saw the move as a golden opportunity to turn his passion for food into a business. With unwavering determination, he opened the now award-winning Crust in 2019 from a small, converted shipping container beside the village of Achmore, producing Neapolitan style pizza made from scratch. Crust sold out daily as word spread about the amazing pizzas made and served from a shipping container. Shortly after opening Crust, Gez opened a restaurant and cocktail bar in Stornoway, The Fank, which focuses on food cooked on an open charcoal fire.

Besides food, Gez and Nat had a long-held interest in the world of spirits, including gin. Gez was particularly drawn to gin because of the unlimited botanical combinations and the diversity of flavours he discovered with each different gin he tried. With her background in chemistry, Nat was intrigued by the science behind the flavours and aromas. With the dream of building a business together, they set their sights on what is now Landfall gin as way to showcase the wonderful botanicals in abundance on the island.

They began building a library of botanicals, tastes and aromas, eventually running a number of test distillations to see how local botanicals transferred to flavours in gin. As a small self-funded start-up, the couple couldn’t afford their own still from the very beginning, so instead, they opted to work with the team at Lost Loch Spirits, who helped the couple develop their initial ideas into what would become their signature Landfall Island Dry Gin and Landfall Navy Strength Gin, both featuring island botanicals foraged by Gez and Nat.

The high-strength distilled spirits are currently shipped to the Isle of Lewis, where they are diluted to the correct ABV using local spring water and bottled by hand on the island. Gez and Nat plan to open the Stornoway Distillers Co. distillery by the end of 2024, where all gin and spirit production, including distillation, will one day take place.