Stornoway Distillers – An Hour with Landfall Gin
A few hours.
The route
Landfall is Lewis's own gin, made with heather, bog myrtle, bladderwrack, meadowsweet and lemon balm foraged on the island, and its makers pour it in their visitor centre by the harbour in Stornoway.
The guided tasting takes an hour, with a Landfall gin and tonic to start and the stories of where the botanicals are gathered. It's a good hour on a grey afternoon in town, with miniatures to take home for whoever is driving.
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 Harris Hideaway, 27 miles away. Sleeps 2.
Book the Landfall guided gin tasting on Stornoway Distillers' website before you go, at a time its booking calendar shows: an hour, £25 a head at the time of writing, over-18s only, with ID if you look under 25; tell them at least 24 hours ahead who is driving, and changes or refunds close 24 hours before.
The day
Stornoway
An hour with the island's gin by the harbour, then a look round the shop.
About an hour and a half
Stornoway Distillers
Stornoway Distillers' visitor centre is at the harbour end of Cromwell Street in the middle of Stornoway, with free parking in the big car park across the road on South Beach. The gin is distilled and bottled elsewhere, at sites that aren't open to visitors: this is where it's poured. Book the guided tasting on the distillers' website before you go. It takes an hour and costs £25 a head at the time of writing. You start with a Landfall gin and tonic, then taste full serves of the Island Dry, the Navy Strength and a limited release, and leave with a £5 voucher towards a bottle in the shop. Whoever is driving gets a soft drink, and miniatures of Landfall with tonic to take home, as long as you tell the distillers at least 24 hours ahead. The tasting is for over-18s only, and dogs, welcome in the shop, can't come to it. The visitor centre is a restaurant and cocktail bar too, open for lunch and dinner from Tuesday to Saturday, with local seafood cooked over the fire.
If it rains
All of it is under a roof.
Where to stay
Photograph by Stornoway Distillers Co. via Google