Lone Wolf Distillery, Ellon, Aberdeenshire
History
Back in 2015, the spirit world sat up to attention when “disruptive” beer makers Brewdog announced they were launching a distillery to create gin, vodka and whisky. The location for their distillery was back to where it all started for them on a greenfield site at Ellon, just north of Aberdeen. With their reputation as the self-styled ‘punk’ brewers, Brewdog were not going to build just any old distillery.
They quickly went about head-hunting some of the best distillers in the industry to help define their house style. After a couple of years experimenting in a 50 litre still refining their recipes they launched their gin. They have created a distillery here that does everything from scratch, unlike many of Scotland’s distilleries.
From milling and mashing their own grain to having the worlds first “triple bubble” pot still creating a cleaner spirit and not to mention the UK’s tallest column at 60ft tall. As usual Brewdog don’t do things by half.
The Spirit
Lone Wolf haven’t messed about when it comes to launching new brands with about 8 coming out of the distillery to date. Last year saw a new approach to their offering with a range of new brands. Zealot’s Heart Gin, Rogue Wave, a single malt vodka, is said to be inspired by BrewDog founder James Watt’s cousin, ‘one-armed Alex’, who “dived head first into life after the worst of days at sea”.
Lone Wolf Gin, launched in 2015 as BrewDog’s first spirit, was also given a bottle redesign. Finally the Boilermaker Series was the result of a collaboration between BrewDog and Scotch blenders Compass Box and Duncan Taylor, and Dutch rye whisky maker Zuidam. This year also saw a spiced/botanical rum called 500 Cuts being launched.
Why visit
The distillery hasn’t been designed to take visitors but I have heard of some people being able to visit. Love them or loath them, BrewDog are serious about making their mark on the spirit industry. Time will tell if this will be as successful as their beer business.
Interesting fact
Last year LoneWolf launched a hidden pop up bar scavenger hunt with chance to win year’s supply of gin. The bar was hidden in a remote Scottish location and was there for just two days. Clues were put out through their social media channels for people to try and discover the location.
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