9 minute read
TURNING THE AMBER NECTAR
Turning the AMBER NECTAR green
Scotland’s distilleries are blending sustainability into their daily operations, all the way through from whisky production to packaging
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Written by Peter Ranscombe
After building her Nc’Nean Distillery on the beautiful Morvern Peninsula back in 2017, Annabel Thomas could have been forgiven for resting on her laurels. After all, she’d installed a biomass boiler to provide renewable energy from woodchips, she’d introduced the UK’s fi rst clear recycled glass bottle, and she’d chosen to use only organic Scottish barley to make her whisky.
Yet Thomas is now going further. Following the release in 2020 of her maiden whisky, she’s now working with her farmers to measure and reduce their carbon dioxide emissions too, as well as introducing bees to the distillery, and trying to fi nd a recyclable refi ll pouch that will have a lower carbon footprint than her bottle.
Making organic whisky has struck a chord with her consumers too. ‘I think people appreciate the care it shows for our supply chain, beyond our own operations – what they may not appreciate is that we also think it infl uences the taste and texture of our whisky, bringing extra richness and depth to the liquid,’ she adds.
Thomas is one of a growing band
Top: Annabel Thomas with Nc’nean Organic Whisky in the fully recycled glass bottle. Bottom: Nc’nean Distillery.
of distillers in Scotland who are taking a long hard look at their impact on the environment and are working to make their spirits and their distilleries more sustainable, with brands including Benromach, Bruichladdich and Deanston embracing organic barley.
The Scotch Whisky Association, the body that represents distilleries, has even laid out a ‘roadmap’ for how the industry as a whole aims to reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2045.
Over on the east coast, Arbikie Distillery in Angus has already gone beyond simply cutting the amount of greenhouse gases pumped into the air and has instead created its Nàdar gin and vodka, which absorb more carbon dioxide from the atmosphere during their production process than they give out. That’s because they’re made from peas grown on Arbikie’s farm instead of wheat, which soak up carbon dioxide and make the spirits ‘climate positive’.
Nàdar was developed as part of master distiller Kirsty Black’s doctorate in partnership with the James Hutton Institute and Abertay University. ‘Even though we launched Nàdar gin just before lockdown and Nàdar vodka during, both are selling well as consumers are very much looking
for sustainable products and, in our case, sustainable spirits,’ explains Iain Stirling, one of the brothers who launched the distillery on their family farm by Lunan Bay.
Like Thomas, his family is using farming methods to regenerate their soils, as well as taking part in a UK Government green distilleries funding competition to investigate using a combination of hydrogen, wind and solar to power the distillery. ‘Arbikie wants to be one of the world’s most sustainable distilleries,’ he adds.
Arbikie is one of the biggest proponents of ‘farm to glass’, growing as many botanicals as it can for its gin on its farm, along with experiments to grow juniper bushes. Near neighbour Ogilvy turns potatoes that would be too ‘ugly’ to sell to supermarkets into vodka, while the Secret Herb Garden just outside Edinburgh grows juniper and dozens of other botanicals for use in its Old Curiosity Distillery.
Back on the west coast, Kintyre Gin maker Beinn an Tuirc Distillers on Torrisdale Castle Estate near Campbeltown has been hailed as ‘climate positive’, with the business removing more carbon dioxide from the atmosphere than it produces.
Steps Kintyre Gin has taken have
Clockwise from top left: Organic barley; woodchips; Arbikie pea field; the Stirling brothers; Nàdar vodka and gin; Kirsty Black; Nc’nean’s renewable powered stills; The Arbikie Distillery.
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Clockwise from top left: Dr Bill Sanderson (right) and George Stoyle emerge from the Dornoch Firth with oysters from the Glenmorangie ‘Deep’ project; Sanderson retrieving an oyster; Glenmorangie Distillery still house; Bloodline Spirits’ sea-green bottle.
included planting trees and using hydro-electric power to run its stills.
It’s not just the newer, smaller distilleries that are doing their bit for the planet. At Oldmeldrum in Aberdeenshire, Glen Garioch – owned by global giant Beam Suntory – has been investing £6 million to lower its carbon footprint.
In August, Glenmorangie reached a milestone in its appropriately-named ‘Deep’ or Dornoch Environmental Enhancement Project, when the 10,000th native European oyster was reintroduced to the Dornoch Firth. Oysters became extinct in the fi rth more than 100 years ago due to overfi shing, but Glenmorangie – which is owned by French luxury goods giant LVMH – has been working since 2014 with
Heriot-Watt University and the Marine Conservation Society to create a reef with four million oysters, which will purify the water by fi ltering out the organic waste from the distillery. Innovative Scottish companies are also coming up with other uses for wastewater from distilleries. MiAlgae is using it to grow marine algae that’s then turned into a feed for fi sh, farm animals, and pets that’s rich in Omega-3 oils, while Celtic Renewables is building Companies are coming up with a ‘bio-refi nery’ at Grangemouth to other uses for wastewater turn whisky waste into biofuels. Away from the production process, many distilleries and drinks brands are working hard to reduce perhaps the most visible part of their environmental impact – their bottles. Bloodline Spirits in Peebles – which was founded by Julie Mclean, a descendant of Andrew Usher, one of the pioneers of blended Scotch whisky – has recently introduced a sea-green bottle, having already gone plastic-free for its packaging. ‘The bottles are 100% recycled glass and are created by a
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Clockwise from top left: Harris Gin aluminium bottles; recycle envelopes; The Isle of Harris Distillery; Wonky Glass from River Rock Distillery; Rock Rose Gin are now supplying refills of their gin in a pouch. company called Wildly Crafted, which is dedicated to sustainable materials,’ explains Mclean. ‘All bottles are unique in the way that they are materials,’ explains Mclean. ‘All bottles are unique in the way that they are never identical and can have small air bubbles or dark specs in them that are more than likely from brown or black bottles.’
River Rock single malt whisky has also embraced bottles that look different to each other. ‘Our bottles are all made from glass that would normally go unused in the glass-making process,’ says co-founder Mark Geary, who is also working with the John Muir Trust to plant a tree for each bottle his company sells.
When Edrington changed the name of its ‘Naked Grouse’ to ‘Naked Malt’ in May, it also took the opportunity to switch to 100% recycled packaging. Isle of Harris Distillery is experimenting with aluminium bottles as part of its ‘refi ll project’ available to subscribers, which allows fans to hang onto the brand’s distinctive spiral glass bottles and top up their gin.
Dunnet Bay Distillery has also created refi lls for its Rock Rose gin and Holy Grass vodka. The distillery – which recently appointed Sarah Lyons as its fi rst environment manager and which generates all the electricity it needs from solar panels – opted for recyclable refi ll pouches, again giving fans the chance to reuse its popular ceramic bottles.
The maker of Scotland’s most recognisable glasses is also reducing its impact. Glencairn Crystal is investing £2m in its East Kilbride site, including installing solar panels so it can generate all the electricity it needs.
With Scotland in the spotlight during the United Nations’ climate change summit in Glasgow, many of the makers of its national drink and other spirits are stepping up to tackle their environmental impact. The amber nectar is starting to look a whole lot greener as a result.
