An Angus farm has become a showcase of sustainability and diversification – and it produces one of our favourite alcoholic drinks!

Arbikie Estate, which overlooks picturesque Lunan Bay, has seen dramatic changes over the years, including the addition of a distillery located in a former barn and the recent construction of a visitor experience centre.

The 2000-acre farm, run by brothers John, Iain and David Stirling has a ‘field to bottle’ ethos, with all ingredients for their products grown on the farm. They have established a global client base with a suite of luxury drinks brands, including Haar Vodka, Rye Whisky, Chilli Vodka and Kirsty’s Gin.

However, it was Nadar Gin and vodka, the world’s first climate-positive spirit made with peas and developed in association with Abertay University and the James Hutton Institute, that really drew attention to the sustainability outlook of the business.

Co-owner, Iain Stirling, said: “That’s the revolutionary spirit that has done us well across the world and opened a lot of doors for us because sustainability and planet-friendly is very much in vogue.

“Peas give natural nitrogen into the soil, so we are putting nitrogen back into the fields and we are also distilling with them, and then using the waste as well, so it’s fully circular and a good example of the way things should be done.

“Our ethos is to be transparent and all of that research and information is in the public domain because the biggest compliment we can get is people sharing it and doing something similar."

Mr Stirling pointed to the 'dramatically changed' food and drink space in Scotland over the last decade in terms of the diversity and quality of the offering, and also on knowledge and traceability.

He said: “People are very much into localisation and they are really interested in local producers and also with the climate crisis people are looking at where food and alcohol are travelling.

“We were one of the early adopters of the 'eco' spirits that looks to get rid of single use glass. Anything we can do to attain our ambition to be one of the world’s most sustainable distilleries, we will do and Nadar was a key step in that.”

The firm also hopes to be the world’s first green hydrogen powered distillery.

“Consumers on the tourism side and the alcohol side are now much more discerning. I met luxury travel buyers from the US and North America recently and they were very interested in the sustainability side of our business and what we are doing.

“Other buyers I met this week were very impressed in terms of scale – they get the message of field to bottle and doing the whole process on site, just as you would do in a vineyard.

“Angus, as Scotland’s birthplace is a stunning county – it’s an ancient county and it’s also part of the world that many tourists who come to Scotland don’t come to or see very little of. A lot of them haven’t spent a lot of time in Angus, so if we can help attract people into the county to the benefit of the towns and the rural farming businesses, all well and good.

“I think as a relatively small business and a family business, I think we can maybe do things that some of the other corporates can’t because we have an enquiring mindset and we like a bit of change and we have some great distillers that work for us.”

The distillery visitor centre marks its first anniversary next month and has capacity for around 120 people on the ground floor and up to 100 upstairs. It includes a shop with the full range of Arbikie spirits and merchandise, a café with stunning coastal views and a cocktail bar.

The business is currently recruiting ‘across the board’, with the visitor centre creating jobs numbering in the ‘10s and 20s’ – all local people from Angus.

While April to September or October is seen by many as the tourist season, Arbikie has been busy across the winter months, with March shaping up to be the busiest.

Mr Stirling said: “We are creating a destination. I think people are very much enjoying both the food and beverages offering, but also the tastings across the gin, vodka, whisky and rye whisky.

“We work with some of the world’s best restaurants and bars, and we are looking at bringing VIPs from abroad and hosting them in Angus, and collaborating with the offering that is in Angus.

“Our consumers in places such as Italy, Germany, US and Japan are now wanting to come both to Scotland and to the distillery to see where its all grown and distilled.”

The centre has been well received, with strong support from local consumers and the family is looking at extending opening times to seven days per week.

Mr Stirling added: “We have a lot of locals who are coming for lunch every day, a lot of them will see the cocktail types of tours we are doing which are great fun and I think we have really good engagement.

"The reviews have been really good and our food team has done incredible work creating great lunches – focussed on local sourcing and local produce. The challenge will be bringing in tourists from all over the world.

"We are in 20 markets and shortly opening in Switzerland and Taiwan. It’s nice to be able to say, people can come and enjoy our products, but also that product is available in their home market.”

The business offers a range tours and tastings, including whisky, cocktail experience and a gin and vodka experience.

Mr Stirling added: “As a family business, you can take decisions more quickly and for the long term because with whisky it’s a long term business – very much a decades and centuries business.

“As custodians of Arbikie, it’s our time to diversify and leave something for the next generation and generations. Many in the farming industry have diversified and that continues – it’s great to see. Hopefully, we can inspire people as well.

“A lot of it is about momentum, brand building, people realising what we are doing. Key within it is innovating, but also tipping our hat to tradition too,” he concluded.