The Orkney Distillery – Gin and Whisky by the Harbour
A few hours.
The route
The Orkney Distillery stands on Kirkwall's harbour front, a striking black building where Kirkjuvagr gin is made with Orkney-grown botanicals.
It's also one of the smallest whisky operations in Scotland. Its whisky tour walks through the stills and ends upstairs with four drams over the harbour; the gin tour tastes the four core gins and tells their Norse stories. Afterwards, lunch is a short walk into town at the Real Food Café, across from St Magnus Cathedral. It's a good morning on a wet day in Kirkwall, and nobody has to drive.
Before you go
Book accommodation nearby
If you are staying over: here are ours nearest where the day starts and ends.
None of ours is close by: the nearest is House of the Northern Gate, 29 miles away. Sleeps 18.
Book the whisky tour or the gin tour on the Orkney Distillery's website before you go, at a time that leaves room for lunch after it.
The day
Kirkwall
A tour through the stills and a tasting upstairs, with Kirkwall's harbour below the windows, then a short walk into town for lunch by the cathedral.
About two and a half hours
The Orkney Distillery
An attraction
The Orkney Distillery is on Ayre Road, on Kirkwall's harbour front, a short walk from the middle of town, so you can leave the car where you're staying or in town where the signs show how long you can park. Book a tour on the distillery's website before you go; the price shows when you book. The whisky tour walks through the production area, then heads upstairs to the tasting room over the harbour for four drams. The gin tour starts with a short film and Orkney-grown botanicals, tastes the four core Kirkjuvagr gins, and then goes through the stills. From April to September both end in the front bar with a drink on the house and 10% off in the shop. From October to March the front bar is shut but tours still run, booked ahead, so ask when you book where yours finishes. In October the distillery opens Wednesday to Sunday, 10am to 5pm; for its days from November to March, ring 01856 875338. Under-18s can join a tour with an adult, at a lower price with no alcohol, and ID may be asked for under Challenge 25. There's a lift to the first floor.
6 min on foot
The Real Food Café
Lunch
Lunch is 6 minutes' walk into town, at the back of Judith Glue's shop across from St Magnus Cathedral. The Real Food Café cooks Orkney produce to order: soup with bere bannock, cheese scones, Westray smoked salmon, and Orkney crab on the days it comes in. Children and well-behaved dogs are welcome. From October to March it's open every day: Monday to Saturday until 4.30pm, and Sundays from 11am to 3.30pm, each a little later in December. If it's full, Lucano, two minutes down Victoria Street, serves Italian food all day.
If it rains
The tour and the café are both under a roof; only the 6-minute walk between them is out in the weather.
Where to stay
Photographs by Donald MacLeod and Christian via Google