‘Oban’ Gin moves to Edinburgh
A GIN-MAKER has plans to create an Oban spirit in Edinburgh – decanting water from Loch Nell at Kilmore and transporting it to the city.
The owner of Oban Gin and McCaig’s Distillery trademarks had initially planned to set up a distillery in the town but had failed to secure premises.
With almost 300 people in the town supporting former Oban man David Robertson’s aspirations for the brand, some were disappointed to find out he would not be opening a local distillery. However, others are delighted the product may finally find its way into the shops.
Mr Robertson did not reply to calls or emails from The Oban
Times, but a post on the firm’s Facebook page said: ‘ Woohoo our premises are now secure get the keys this week!’
When Oban Gin revealed the product was not to be distilled in Oban, one person asked: ‘What’s the point of that? Surely you owe it to Oban to make the premises there?’
Oban Gin replied: ‘ We’ll be opening in Oban eventually, but most gins do this; get another distillery to make for them!’
It was further stated most gins were made at a larger distiller ‘along with half of the gins in Scotland, it’s called private label gin. It’s the quickest way to get into the market without the huge start up.’
Oban Gin wants to extract the water from Loch Nell to make the spirit, explaining: ‘It’s the source of where Oban gets it’s water from! Obviously your water goes through the treatment plant up by Soroba. So if it’s good enough for Scottish Water to use as a water source it’s good enough for us.’
In another post, Oban Gin said the process would be up and running as soon as possible, with the spirit distilled as soon as May.
Explaining how the water will be extracted from the loch, Oban Gin said: ‘Specially designed IBC tank in the back of the van works perfectly. About one trip a month at most. Down the southern end of the Loch easily get parked and extract.’
The Oban Times spoke to the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) about the extraction of water from the loch.
A spokeswoman for SEPA said it would consider any application for the extraction for a distillery but added: ‘We have not received an application from anyone, or any business, about extraction from Loch Nell.’
The Health and Safety Executive said: ‘Aside from an extraction licence, there are other considerations that anyone removing water for human consumption needs to consider and HSE would be keen to talk to anyone considering removing water from a loch, transporting it and then distilling it.’