Port of Leith

Port of Leith:

The Port of Leith Distillery, located in the historic Leith district, has been producing the classic London Dry Gin called Lind & Lime since 2018. This gin is known for its balanced flavors of juniper, lime, and spicy pink pepper, along with botanicals like angelica, orris root, liquorice, and coriander seeds.

The name Lind & Lime is a tribute to Dr. James Lind, a ship’s doctor born in Edinburgh in 1716, who discovered a remedy for scurvy using limes. The gin incorporates limes as a key ingredient, inspired by this historical connection.

The bottle design of Lind & Lime Gin is reminiscent of a wine bottle, paying homage to Leith’s past as a significant center for glass production.

Production:

Lind & Lime Gin places a strong emphasis on sustainability. The company uses 100% organically grown ingredients and operates with green electricity. The packaging of the gin bottle is also free from plastic.

The gin is distilled using a 500-liter capacity ‘Genio Still,’ which provides precise temperature control and distillation speed through a central computer. The production process takes about four days per batch. Neutral grain alcohol from Switzerland with a 96% alcohol content is used as the base. All botanicals, except the limes, are added to the mixture, which is then macerated at low heat for 24 hours. The lime peels are added the next day, and the liquid undergoes another day of distillation. Once ready, the distillate, with an alcohol content of approximately 80%, is transferred to a tank. There, it is diluted with filtered water to a drinking strength of 44% and left to rest for 48 hours. Only after this resting period does the gin proceed to bottling, where the bottles are labeled by hand.

History:

Childhood friends Paddy Fletcher and Ian Stirling, who grew up in Edinburgh, shared a flat in London and developed a mutual passion for whisky. Although their careers diverged (Paddy as an accountant and Ian as a wine merchant), their dream of establishing a distillery in their hometown remained strong. In 2014, they founded their own company, Muckle Brig, to raise funds from investors for building the Port of Leith distillery. In 2016, they partnered with the International Centre for Brewing & Distilling at Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh to create a special whisky.

To generate additional funding for their whisky project, Muckle Brig launched Lind & Lime Gin in 2017. However, it took nearly two years of preparation and development before the first gin was produced.

Construction of the Port of Leith Distillery began in 2020. By early 2022, the substructure, foundations, and steel structure were completed, and work on the façade commenced.

Visitor Centre:

While the Port of Leith Distillery is still under construction, visitors can book tours of the Tower Street Stillhouse in Leith. The 75 – minute tour provides insights into the development of Lind & Lime Gin and updates on the distillery’s whisky plans.

Visitor information:

The Port of Leith Distillery
The Tower Street Stillhouse
53 Tower St
Leith, Edinburgh EH6 7BM
Tel: +44 131 5546469
Email: hello@leithdistillery.com