Summer travel: Water of life back on stream

As the largest town in the Scottish Borders, Hawick has benefitted from its position as a trading gateway to Scotland. Famed for the quality of its water, during the industrial revolution, the town blossomed into the prosperous capital of the Scottish textile industry.

The Borders Distillery. Image: Keith Hunter Photography

It’s perhaps surprising then that until 2018 Hawick had been without a local whisky distillery since 1837. Founded by three veterans of the Scotch Whisky Industry, the Borders Distillery building is an award-winning conversion of the former Edwardian electrical works situated on the banks of the River Teviot. The architects made it a priority to preserve as much of the character of the former building as possible; the high Victorian glass ceilings allow the distilling halls to be flooded with natural light.

As it can take eight to ten years for a fine single malt to mature the distillers have kept themselves busy by creating blend whisky beginning with Borders Male & Rye in 2019 based upon a small batch of rye spirit matured in the same bourbon casks as he single malt. The distillers also created Puffing Billy Steam Vodka and unfiltered malted barley spirit made from and charcoal steamed in the still to preserve the unique flavour of the locally sourced barley. Similarly, Kerr’s Gin — named in honour of the Hawick-born 19th century botanist, William Kerr — is distilled from barley grown with a 30-mile radius while the botanicals are gently steamed in the specially commissioned Carterhead Still, unlike most other gin stills that boil their botanicals.

Distillation can be a fascinating process; a blend of ancient and modern, science and art and with this in mind the distillery offer regular tours to visitors— albeit with a difference.

All the tours at the Borders Distillery are led by the distillers themselves and run throughout the season until the end of October. The distiller’s expert guidance takes you through the mashing, fermentation and distillation halls. All the spirits are made within the distillery from seed to spirit and the tour covers all stages of the creation of the drinks. Unlike many other distilleries visitors are actively encouraged to take photos as the natural light from the glass ceiling makes this a unique experience. The steel hoist from the original workshop now functions as a picture window frame for the distillery shop while old teak school desks were salvaged and reused to create furniture and windowsills. Of course, once you’re through marvelling at the award-winning architecture, you’re invited to reflect on everything you’ve experienced by sampling the spirits at the bar. Cheers!.