Roehill Springs Distillery based in Keith, Moray, toasts use of blockchain to crystallise water usage data

Spirits firm mixing with pioneering tech to create watertight data resource on its products.

The spirits firm said IoT sensor based-flow meters have been installed at the spring on the family farm and at its distillery. Picture: contributed.

An artisanal, family-run gin distillery in the Highlands has revealed how it is harnessing blockchain technology – essentially a digital ledger – to clarify the amount, quality, and provenance of the water used in making its spirits.

Roehill Springs, near Keith, Moray, said it is using the system, developed by Censis – Scotland’s innovation centre for sensing, imaging, and Internet of Things (IoT) technologies – and Aberdeen-based app developer TrackGenesis, in what it added is believed to be among the first direct uses of sensor data with a blockchain. The project is part of the Censis IoT Evolve programme, funded by the Scottish Government and Highlands and Islands Enterprise, to support the development of IoT technologies by companies across the north of Scotland.

The spirits firm said IoT sensor based-flow meters have been installed at the spring on the family farm and at its distillery, and the resulting data is sent to a smartphone and tablet application via Bluetooth, and transferred to the private blockchain where it is held and can be accessed by customers through a QR code printed on each bottle of Roehill Springs gin, alongside information about other ingredients.

It added that the system means there is complete accuracy and transparency – meaning customers “can be confident that water used in Roehill gin is high quality and sustainably sourced”, while the blockchain being “tamper-proof and immutable” removes the time, errors, and cost of manual data entry, and helps the distillery track and reduce its water usage.

Duncan Morrison, co-owner of Roehill Springs Distillery, said: “When we realised the potential blockchain offered in combination with IoT, we felt it was the right way forward for enhancing the transparency of what we do. While we have started with water usage, the project has been so successful we are looking at other ways the technology can be used, to support our aims of being completely open with our customers about the products they consume and reducing our own environmental footprint.”

Ally Longmuir, business development manager at Censis, said benefits of the system include providing “state-of-the-art” security and traceability, and driving efficiency within the drinks business. “We look forward to seeing Roehill Springs roll out the technology even further, and hope it inspires other businesses to explore how they might be used in their own operations.”

Richard Lochhead, Scotland’s Minister for Small Business, Innovation, Tourism and Trade, praised the “innovative” technology and resulting insights, adding: “Realising the full benefits of the digital and data economy using technology is fundamental to our National Strategy for Economic Transformation.”