🥃 North British Distillery
Email newsletter originally sent to subscribers on 16th May 2025
There's a statement at the bottom of this email claiming that my newsletter goes out every Thursday. Except, sometimes, it doesn't. If work's incredibly busy, sometimes I forget. And, then on other occasions, I simply forget to click 'Publish' - which was, indeed, the case yesterday.
So, for one week only, my newsletter is going out on a Friday morning. Sorry!
In last week's email, I mentioned that I was preparing myself for a visit to the North British Distillery in Edinburgh. This is a distillery I had wanted to visit for such a long time and, therefore, my thanks to Megan and Woody of Woodrow's of Edinburgh for inviting me along.
First off, we weren't allowed phones and cameras etc on site. So, the below photo of us, in our fetching red NBD coveralls, is the only one of our visit. And yes, when you're as short as me, the crotch part does appear to be nearly the same level as your knees. And also yes, when the sun is shining on your face, casting a shadow across your upper lip , it does look as though you've lost both front teeth. But hey...it's the only photographic evidence of my being at North British Distillery and so here it is for your viewing pleasure.
Our 'tour guide' for the day was James. And a better guide we couldn't have asked for. NBD is immense and James generously took three hours out of his working day to show us every aspect of production at the plant.
Without being able to take photos or notes, I don't trust my memory to correctly recall all the facts and figures James shared with us - and there were many. But here are just a few points which stood out for me:
a) the distillery uses maize for the production of its spirit. This maize comes from many different sources including Ukraine. To date, the war hasn't impacted on the amount of maize they are able to acquire - which was both surprising and pleasing to hear.
b) the spaghetti like system of condenser pipes - albeit relatively easy to clean - can be a bit of a pain if (when?) one of them leaks.
c) the site houses two huge tanks, each containing a million litres of spirit. These tanks are barely 70m away (my estimation, by the way) from the old Tynecastle school site - on which construction of yet another round of student accommodation is nearing completion. Look out for The Angels' Share-esque headlines in the not-too-distant future involving the words 'student', 'drill' and 'zip line'.
d) the warehouses aren't currently in use for the maturation of North British spirit. In fact, with the exception of the bottom floor of one of the warehouses - where a few casks holding whisky from other distilleries were stored - the warehouses were completely empty. Warehousing is now at Muirhall - an immense complex of bonds just off the A71.
e) the warehouses are so close to Tynecastle stadium. In fact, the wall of one is a maximum of 50cm away from the stadium's platform entrance.
f) Although the warehouses must have formed part of the original distillery - as you can see from this sketch from The House of Sanderson by Ross Wilson (published in 1963) - it's not known at the moment what the future holds for them.
Talking of the Sandersons, our initial chat (as well as a necessary health and safety debrief) took place in the boardroom, where photographs of the original founders and all subsequent directors of North British are on display - the familiar face of William Mark Sanderson was looking directly at me (he features in the book, by the way).
So, it was great to be able to put faces to other names. We're familiar with three of the better known individuals involved in founding North British Distillery - Andrew Usher, John Miller Crabbie and William Sanderson. But, as you can see from this Incorporation document from 1885 (freely available on Companies House, by the way), there were others: John Somerville, James Watson, Alexander Murdoch and George Robertson.
Perhaps I’ll look into the lives of these four in future email newsletters. Let me know if you’d be interested in finding out more. In the meantime, enjoy the sunshine - both the liquid version in your glass as well as that unusual yellow round thing in the sky.
Slà inte!
Justine