Ogilvy Distillery
Hatton of Ogilvie
Glamis
Forfar
History - The Jarron family has farmed the land at Hatton of Ogilvy farm since 1910. It lies at the base of Glen Ogilvy, close to Glamis Castle and approximately 60 per cent of the land is used for cropping potatoes. Three varieties are grown: Maris Piper, King Edward and Coultra. Husband and wife team Graeme and Caroline Bruce-Jarron had always been frustrated that every time they sold their crop to the supermarkets a percentage would be rejected for being “wonky”. So this got them to thinking why don’t we just make a Scottish vodka with these poor rejected tatties. This idea sprouted and before long Graeme found himself travelling back and forth to Edinburgh’s Heriot Watt University Distilling department with bags of spuds to find out if they could make it happen. At the beginning of 2014 they started building the distillery on their farm and by the end of the summer they had their still house complete to start making Scottish vodka. Even with the gin boom happening Ogilvy have grown and won prestigious awards along the way including a Gold Outstanding medal, as well as the coveted Vodka Trophy 2015 for best vodka, and a bronze medal for packaging at the International Wines & Spirits Competition in San Francisco, all in their first year.
The Vodka – As well as their vodka they also produce flavoured variants using their spirit as a base under the name of The Perfect Pour. My favourite is the Perfect Pour no 5 with vodka and natural Bramble & Rhubarb flavours. They have also recently released a Creme de Cassis after having an abundance of blackcurrants left over on the farm.
Geek Alert - When researching which of their potato varieties would work best to make vodka they discovered that Maris Piper potatoes were the winners. Giving the final spirit a nutty flavour and more rounded flavour.
Why Visit? They have recently spent £150k on a new visitors’ centre where you can experience first-hand their ground to glass Single-Estate vodka. For £15 you can jump on their Tattie Box Tours trailer and see behind the scenes, guiding you through their potato and vodka production. This hands on tour will take you through every step of their amazing process before you can sample their award-winning vodka and another product from the range.
Interesting fact This part of Scotland is stunning and steeped in history. Ogilvy means ‘high plain’ in an ancient Pictish language.
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