Spirits firm move gin production to Isle of Colonsay

Wild Thyme Spirits is moving gin production to its base on the beautiful Inner Hebridean island of Colonsay this month.

The first ‘island batch’ of Colonsay Gin set to run from the still by the end of May.

Founders of Wild Thyme Spirits, husband and wife team, Fin and Eileen Geekie relocated from Oxfordshire to their new self-built home on the remote island of Colonsay in 2016. After a successful launch in 2017 and a year crafting small-batch Colonsay Gin with the help of one of Scotland’s smallest distilleries, Strathearn, the pair are now bringing production of Colonsay Gin home to the island.

To coincide with this, Wild Thyme Spirits have negotiated an exclusive agreement with the Colonsay Estate to hand-forage for botanicals on the island, including access to the highly acclaimed gardens and grounds of Colonsay House. This gives the distillers scope to experiment, legitimately, and on a commercial scale, with a huge array of local botanicals to help create future products with unmistakable Colonsay provenance.

Colonsay Gin is juniper-led, in the classic London Dry style, and is made in a 100L copper still in small batches of only 162 bottles.

Fin and Eileen Geekie founded Wild Thyme Spirits

The spirit is distilled with seven botanicals; juniper, angelica root, calamus root, liquorice root, orange peel, orris root and coriander seeds and is distilled very slowly before the spirit is held for a further 4-5 days to allow the flavours to mellow. It is bottled at 47% ABV, slightly higher than most gins.

In 2017, Colonsay Gin was notably awarded a silver medal in the New York International Spirits Competition and subsequently a silver medal at the prestigious Global Gin Masters. Inspiration for the artisanal spirit is rooted in the island’s wild landscape and its mythical Celtic folklore.

In addition to producing international award-winning gin, the two entrepreneurs also offer a ‘Gin Lover’s Retreat’ weekend package which allows guests to relax and unwind, enjoy all things gin, whilst immersing themselves in, and fully embracing, the island experience.

The package includes full board, cocktails on arrival, a formal gin tasting and access to the couples ever growing collection of gins from around the world. This burgeoning business has already contributed to the sustainability and ongoing development of the island economy and continues to support the local community wherever it can.

Moving production to the island will also undoubtedly help create much needed employment.