A pair of Highland mums are toasting to the latest success of their own gin brand.
Cara Edwards and Catriona Murch founded Bealach Highland Gin eight months ago after becoming friends through a mum and toddler group.
The pair, who run the business in Letterfinlay, have now had to scale up their latest batch by five times in order to keep up with demand.
Cara said they have also received planning permission to distil themselves from a shed on the estate which she lives on.
Bealach translates to ‘mountain pass’ from Scots Gaelic, which is a nod to the banks of Loch Lochy, where Catriona and Cara live.
Becoming friends
Cara said she met geography teacher Catriona at a local group and instantly found they had several things in common.
The mums moved to the area at a similar time — Cara from the isle of Islay and Catriona from Glasgow — and have children of similar ages.
Cara said: “Both of our husbands moved up here as they got new jobs. Our children had a couple of play dates and the more we chatted the more we got to know each other.
“We’re driven people and decided we needed to have something of our own which would still allow us to take care of the kids.
“I have a background in distilleries and Catriona has a geology degree so going into the gin industry made sense.”
The pair of them attended a local gin making class in order to gauge what they liked.
Inspired by the rugged landscape of their surroundings, Catriona and Cara wanted to make a gin that reflects their home.
After experimenting with locally foraged botanicals – including brambles and scots pine, the duo found their flavour.
Cara added: “We were inspired by what’s around us, this beautiful place we now call home.
“We received funding from Business Gateway and as well as that a lot of money went in from ourselves.
“Catriona and I are definitely particular and we knew what we wanted. Turning it into a quality product, while using our locally forage fruit, it is a big deal for us.”
Next steps for Bealach Highland Gin
Cara said plans to begin their own distilling are in the works now the pair have seen such an increase in demand.
With distilling taking place on a larger scale at Lost Loch Spirits, larger batches are able to be made.
Cara said: “We needed time to build up our funds, which is why we got in touch with Pete at Lost Loch to see if they’d be able to distil for us.
“Now we’ve been granted planning permission for a work shed on the estate which I live on and hopefully next year we’ll be able to distil ourselves.”
Catriona and Cara benefitted from a Highland Council start-up grant thanks to the support from Business Gateway Highland.
The gin also picked up a silver award from the International Wine & Spirit Competition recently.
Business Gateway Highland start-up adviser Dianne Swanepoel said: “Catriona and Cara have worked really hard over the last year to launch their craft gin.
“I’m so pleased that they can now call it an award-winning product.”
Conversation