New distillery offers a night to lift your spirits
Cat Thomson heads south for a dram fine night with a Moonshine Tour and Tasting at Moffat Distillery
Driving at dusk along the A701 road from Edinburgh to Moffat, it is easy to step back in time. The impressive natural hollow, The Devil’s Beef Tub, was given its unusual name by the Border reivers as it provided the ideal spot for hiding stolen cattle.
Fortunately, I am not travelling to the South of Scotland to pinch some cows; I am here to discover more about the illicit art of moonshining at Moffat Distillery, Scotland’s only wood-fired distillery.
It is owned by Erin and Nick Bullard, a couple who are passionate about small-batch sustainable spirit-making. The Bullards opened the doors to their £1.5 million distillery and visitor centre in 2023 and filled their first cask in 2024.
Until the distillery’s first single malt launches on 25th of September next year, Erin explains that what they produce is, “technically called spirit drink, which isn’t very romantic.” Instead, they opted to call it Moffat Moonshine.
As well as whisky they are currently manufacturing two gins, a range of blended malt Scotch whiskies, fruit whisky liqueurs and moonshines that you can taste or buy in the café and shop.
Erin grew up in Ohio and discovered that she has moonshining heritage; her great-grandmother, Lena, an immigrant from Germany who came to America in the late 1800s, made illicit beer and wine during the American Prohibition. To honour that, the distillery’s second spirit still is named Lena. Nick’s family tree features his three-time great-uncle who was a notable brewer and another who was a vittler.
The enterprising couple met and fell in love singing in a community choir in Philadelphia. They decided to make a shortlist of everything they wanted for a place to live, and founding a new distillery in Scotland came out top.
As they make their version of moonshine and illicit distilling was often done in the dark to avoid detection, they decided to launch a new 1.5-hour evening tasting tour on selected Fridays until February 2027. The inaugural Whisky in the Dark: Moonshine Tour and Tasting is on Friday 13th November, at 4pm and costs £38. It allows visitors to step into the distillery at night and discover more about the whisky-making process.
You get to enjoy a sensory tour, listening to the quiet crackle as the flames lick the still and experiencing the tantalising aromas emanating from the whisky-soaked barrel staves. The recycled wooden waste product from traditional whisky making is cleverly recycled as fuel for the fire. The tour ends with a tasting of their new make spirit, and a trio of Moffat Moonshines. My overall verdict: It’s a grand night out for whisky and spirit lovers; you just need to stay over or persuade someone to be your designated driver.
If you are looking for more inspiration for other bookable winter food and drink experiences in the South of Scotland, visit
https://scotlandstartshere.com/blog/savouring-winter-comforts/