Dunnet Bay Distillers
Member Spotlight
Located in beautiful Caithness, just three miles from the dramatic coastline at Dunnet Head, the most northerly point on mainland Britain, Dunnet Bay Distillers craft some of the country’s most exceptional spirits.
Founded in 2014 by Martin and Claire Murray, the distillery started life as a passion project for the husband and wife team, who dreamed of starting a business that would allow them to live and work in the Highlands, raising their family in the stunning surroundings they had enjoyed as children.
Describing themselves as a “classic startup”, the pair sourced local botanicals to create their first spirit, the earthy and floral Rock Rose Gin, and set an initial goal to sell bottles outside of the local area within the first year – although things didn’t go quite to plan.
“The idea for the distillery was simple – to create enough money for us to be able to live and work in Caithness and, at the time, that meant creating two jobs, one for me and one for Claire,” explained Martin, who previously worked as a chartered process engineer. “We were both born and brought up in Caithness, and we loved the idea of bringing our children up here, but there's not a lot of job opportunities locally, so we knew we would have to create our own business.
“When we started, I was working in oil and gas, doing two weeks away, and two weeks at home. It was at a pretty busy job offshore, and then when I came home, I was in a very busy job making gin. So, it was a bit of a whirlwind for us.
“Our goal in year one was just to sell gin outside of our own local area – and then our first two batches sold out in under 72 hours, and our first year's production sold out in 11 weeks. It was just crazy.”
After the phenomenal response to their first offering, Martin and Claire’s business has continued to go from strength to strength, with both their team and product range growing along the way. Every Dunnet Bay Distillers spirit is crafted to “embody the essence” of the local area’s rich heritage and natural landscape, and now includes Holy Grass Vodka and Mapmaker’s Rum, which have garnered awards and acclaim both locally and internationally.
Now exporting to more than 20 markets, Martin admits he never imagined the distillery would become quite so successful, and attributes their growth over the last decade to hard work, having the right product at the right time – and just a little luck.
He continued: “When I look back and think about where we expected to be in year 10, never in a million years did I think we would be here.
“The thing that drove me for a long time was hearing all the stories about startups failing within three years – all that went through my head when we first started was, ‘Don’t fail in three years’!
“Along the way there's been challenges, as you can imagine – the pandemic, a cost of living crisis, energy crisis, supply chain problems. Even now we’ve got challenges within our sector of spirits duty going up, and potential advertising bans for distilleries. But it’s still incredibly exciting to be doing this, and giving back to our local community.”
Having been Members since 2015, Martin also believes Scotland Food & Drink has been vital to their steady growth, particularly when seeking new buyers and markets.
“We didn't have the connections to go out and find export markets, but doing events with Scotland Food & Drink has been fantastic for us,” he explained. “Last year, we attended the Showcasing Scotland event, and I then went out to China in May. We've now launched in China, and we're on our third order for this year.
“Scotland Food & Drink work as ambassadors, not only for their Members, but for Scotland’s food and drink industry as a whole, and it’s great to have that representation.”
A commitment to the Caithness community is part and parcel of everything Martin and Claire do with their business, and the next stage of their growth journey involves saving a local traditional stone-built water-powered grain mill that dates back to the early to mid-19th century.
The couple are currently in the process of restoring the Castletown Mill, transforming the once dilapidated building into a 300,000-square-foot facility that will be the home of their first whisky brand, Stannergill whisky, the first release of which has already sold out. Due to open in September 2025, the £5.9million state-of-the-art distillery will also be joined by a bar and brasserie, and looks set to become a major destination on the Highland whisky trail.
“The mill project really reinforces our commitment to the local community,” said Martin. “If we built a new distillery, it would probably cost us less than half, maybe even a third.
“The mill was on the building at risk register, and was probably going to fall down in the next 50 years, so our decision to save it really came from the heart. To say that we are the people that have stopped that building from falling down is success alone for me.
“We’ve got the roof on, the windows in, and the equipment is starting to arrive, so we’re on the home straight – but probably with a few hurdles still to come!”
For more information about Dunnet Bay Distillers, visit dunnetbaydistillers.co.uk
