ISLE of Harris Distillers has won the Scottish Gin Distillery of the Year award.

It was praised at the second annual Scottish Gin Awards, in Glasgow, for its “mission to create a ‘social distillery’, bringing jobs and increasing tourism to the island”.

The multi-million-pound distillery, the vision of US-born musicologist Anderson Bakewell, opened in 2015. Run by industry veteran Simon Erlanger, the distillery has enjoyed success with its Isle of Harris gin. It has adopted the Gaelic word for a native of Harris for its single malt Scotch whisky, The Hearach, which will be bottled in coming years.