A FLEDGLING Scottish distillery has come up with a crafty plan to get people interested in its products – by inviting customers to taste them as they are developed.

Crafty Distillery, the brainchild of Graham Taylor – its managing director – is based at Newton Stewart in Dumfries and Galloway, and has a simple mission “to create tasty, honest spirits for everyone who likes a tipple”.

Their approach is more down to earth than traditional spirits brands and the Crafty people want to have fun while they work. They also want potential customers to share in the development of their brands before they reach market – to give them an active say in the type of gin they want and to become part of the distillery.

Crafty has created two groups of distillery “friends” – the Crafty 100, which is for members of the public, and CraftySips, aimed at trade and industry professionals. Taylor, who was born and bred in the area, said the company wanted to retain a light-hearted feel, while behind the scenes hand-crafted will be key. He said: “We created a brand with a bit more attitude and one that is more open minded,” he said. “We wanted to promote the business and the Galloway area side by side. In some ways it’s still an undiscovered part of Scotland, but it’s becoming more and more popular and we would be proud to be a part of that growth.”

The 38-year-old says the idea came from a discussion with his brother. “We were chatting about a small estate distillery being for sale somewhere up north. We were never going to be able to buy it but it was fun to look at the idea. Then I thought maybe there is an opportunity to do our own thing. As we looked around, we saw the rise of craft distilleries and thought there could be a real opportunity to create something different.”

Serious research started later to find the right equipment and location and in February, the project took off and work began on the build.

“A lot of the super-premium brands can be a bit aloof sometimes and more than a wee bit expensive. Our idea was to create a new range of products that were developed for anyone who likes a tipple,” said Taylor. “It’s really about putting our product out there at a fair price to encourage more folk to get involved in craft spirits.”

The distillery – built by a local builder and clad with larch wood from a sawmill at Kirkcowan – is a symbol of their philosophy of being locally inspired, accessible and offering great quality.

Michael Kinlan, a former university classmate of Taylor, is helping develop the brand: “We wanted to be more down-to-earth and add lots of personality to make sure we’re not disappearing up our own backside. We have fun making the stuff and we want that to come across in everything we do.”

The team’s third member is Craig Rankin, also from Newton Stewart, who is charged with developing new products.

“The brief that I got from Graham for the gin was to create a tasty Galloway inspired gin,” he said. “We wanted it to be smooth and accessible and not just for gin buffs. We have both travelled extensively over the years, picking up ingredient ideas during that time but, back in Galloway, I noticed how much of a fantastic natural larder there is here to work with.”

As a result, a third of the botanicals in the gin are foraged in Galloway and, once it’s in production, the distillery will be making some of the base spirit for the gin from scratch using Scottish grain.