Posties give distillery stamp of approval for hand sanitisers

A Fife whisky distillery has been given the stamp of approval from its local posties after taking action to keep them safe.

Lindores Abbey Distillery pushed the envelope after discovering delivery men and women at its nearest sorting office did not have access to hand sanitiser during their rounds.

Managing director Drew McKenzie Smith set about making his own and has now donated a batch to the Cuparbased postal workers.

Drew said he took action following a conversation with the Newburgh distillery’s postman Sandy Young.

He said: “We’d heard about a few gin distilleries doing hand sanitiser.

“We’re whisky but it’s still a natural grain spirit so we thought we should try to do our bit.

“The Post Office is under all sorts of strains at the moment and Sandy is a great member of the community.

“If we can help him and his colleagues then it’s a great thing to do.

“The only thing is, because it’s a grain spirit is actually does smell of whisky.”

Sandy said he and his colleagues really appreciated the gesture.

“We had no hand sanitiser or wipes and just recently got rubber gloves to protect us and our customers,” he said.

“We handle many letters, packets and parcels and the metal cages that hold the mail, which can obviously be a breeding ground for the virus.

“It’s very reassuring to know that there are still some genuinely nice people out there, especially when the abbey is closed like so many other small businesses.”

Drew said that because of the distillery’s size he was not set up to make large batches of sanitiser and it is not on general sale.

He has, however, managed to provide stock for the local shops in Newburgh as well as the sorting office.

Some of the distillery’s yeast is now also on sale in the village’s garage and can be used for making bread.