Scotland’s ‘Field-to-Bottle’ Distiller, Arbikie, has announced that it has bottled a batch of its experimental pot distilled Scottish Rye - thought to be the first produced in the country in centuries.
The spirits producer stated that the proceeds from the sales of the experimental bottling will go to help raise vital funds for a local charity.
Arbikie have been growing a variety of different ryes on their farms since 2014, whilst their distillers have been researching and developing their rye spirits by experimenting with various varieties and production techniques.
They have produced two versions of Rye spirit.
The first, a ‘Scottish Rye Whisky’ in line with The Scotch Whisky Regulations 2009, consists of over 51 per cent Rye, Odyssey Malted Barley, both grown on their farms, plus Arbikie Estate water.
The second, an American version, has been created in line with techniques typically used in North America.
Arbikie is building a strong reputation for innovation and provenance and produces vodka and gin as well as Scotch with ingredients from their own farm.
Director John Stirling said: “As both Farmers and Distillers, Arbikie is in an almost unique position to be able to distill its family of spirits using the crops grown in the fields around our distillery.
"Producing our own whisky with full provenance and traceability has been a dream for us that we are now fulfilling. This is a key day in Arbikie Distillery’s history”.
355 bottles of the new rye whiskies are being released with all proceeds going to the Euan Macdonald Foundation for Motor Neurone Disease.