Batch 22 is the representation of a unique combination of weather, field and crop varieties. This year's variation displays a deep rich amber color due to its maturation in new charred American oak and expresses aromas of forest berries, black tea and caramel.
Arbikie Estate is a family-owned working farm perched on the east coast of Angus; here crop is king. We painstakingly plant, sow, tend & harvest the fields that make up Arbikie. We are craftsmen of the soil.
This is an estate profoundly shaped by its environment: the red sandstone-tinted soil, the powerful sea and the turbulent weather give Arbikie a character found nowhere else. And here, situated where land meets sea, sits our distillery – created from an ancient barn, it is a place with all the ingredients required to produce authentic spirits of the highest quality.
Our family has been farming at Arbikie for four generations. From father to son, we have gained an intuitive understanding of the land; sowing and harvesting the crops that now create Arbikie’s range of field to bottle spirits.
Farming in the Stirling family goes back even further - since 1660, initially on the west coast. Our lands passed through seven generations until great uncle Bill moved to Lunan Bay on the east coast of Angus in the 1920’s. He then passed it to our grandfather, John, who then passed the land over to our father, Alec Stirling, who expanded the acreage.
Brothers John, Iain and David are the visionaries and driving force behind the Arbikie Distillery. As with all farming families, the brothers grew up working around the farm, and it is this hands-on experience that gave them a deep understanding and respect for the land.
Despite pursuing careers away from farming, they have always stayed attached to the family lands - and now with the opening and growth of the Arbikie Highland Estate distillery, they have returned to drive this exciting and continually evolving venture.
Today, our distillery sits a stones throw from our fields with an incredible visitor centre overlooking them.
We've always farmed with absolute respect for the land. The addition of a distillery has not changed our commitment to minimising any environmental impact. Provenance and traceability at Arbikie doesn’t stop with just our crops and water. We use juniper in our spirits - so we grow our own juniper. We use honey - produced by the bees on our farm. We use solar power, and our distilling from start to finish uses negligible miles for its production. The primary waste product from distilling is recycled wherever possible as feed for cattle.
At Arbikie, we aim to become one of the world’s most sustainable distilleries through our single-estate approach. Sustainable products, particularly in the area of food and drink, are undoubtedly the future, and they will be the major economic driving force in the years to come, not just in Scotland, but across the world.
We are fortunate to have a wonderful environment from which we can produce the highest quality of spirits, and we’re proud to play a part at the vanguard of what is becoming a global movement.
We've taken steps to become the World's First Hydrogen Powered Distillery by installing a 1 MW wind turbine, electrolyser, hydrogen storage and hydrogen boiler system.