5 Stars for Orkney Distillery Visitor Centre

Celebrations are underway at Orkney Distillery, as their excellent Visitor Centre, which opened just over a year ago, has been awarded a Five Star Quality Assurance award from VisitScotland at its first grading visit.

The Orkney Distillery and Visitor Centre is situated right on Kirkwall’s harbour front on the island of Orkney and it’s where they create the award-winning Kirkjuvagr Orcadian gin. 

It’s been a busy time for Orkney Distillers. In barely more than a year, the small and dedicated team has welcomed thousands of people on distillery tours, while developing and launching four new gin expressions.

It is run by 11 staff – headed up by Operations Manager Katie Macleod, who said of the 5-star award:

We are extremely proud that we have achieved this Five Star award. We try and provide an exceptional experience for everyone visiting the distillery and this recognition is brilliant for the team. 

“It will hopefully help people to find us and we look forward to welcoming more visitors over the coming year.” 

The visitor experience involves a guided tour through the distillery, with an opportunity to learn about the distilling process including their key botanicals, watching the production area up close and sampling their gins whilst overlooking Kirkwall harbour.

They also offer a gin-making experience, where visitors can craft their own gin recipe – under the guidance of their distiller – using over 30 different botanicals. 

And it’s not just tourists that love it! Local people frequent the distillery for a coffee and or gin in their friendly bar.

The Scottish Gin Society offer huge congratulations to the team at Orkney Distillers. We know the passion and hard work that went into creating this amazing experience and it is truly something Orkney can be proud of.

If you want to experience the Orkney Distillery yourself, you can book your tours and gin-making experience here.