EXPANDING Angus business Gin Bothy is diversifying into the dairy sector with the launch of a new hand-crafted artisan butter that has been created after owner Kim Cameron acquired the recipe from a Forfar business that recently closed.
Bothy Butter, which Ms Cameron says will keep the centuries-old tradition of Angus butter-making alive, uses North Street Dairy’s 45-year-old family recipe and its butter churner, which has now been installed in Gin Bothy’s new premises in Forfar.
Relocating to the bigger 14,000 sqm site – which opened this week – will also allow Gin Bothy to expand the production capacity of its range of jams and marmalades although its premium gin and rum brands will continue to be produced at its existing premises in Glamis with The Bothy Experience, offering tastings and events, also remaining there.
Forfar: Scottish gin, rum and jam maker Bothy Trading grows
Ms Cameron, who describes herself as an “accidental gin-maker”, founded her business in 2015 from her bothy kitchen in Kirriemuir in the Angus Glens. She used leftover fruit juice from her homemade jam to create a Scottish flavoured spirits – starting with the launch of Gin Bothy Raspberry Gin.
Gin Bothy has grown to become one of Scotland’s best-known premium gin and rum brands producing over 65,000 units each year which are sold across the UK and exported internationally.
The new butter, meanwhile, has seen Ms Cameron collaborate with the Millar family who are fourth-generation members of the original founding family of North Street Dairy which was the last Angus family-run dairy and closed after 104 years. She added that they had played a “key role” in the launch of Bothy Butter.
Bothy Butter is both hand-batched and hand-rolled, using Scottish cream, and Ms Cameron has also partnered with Ayrshire-based Blackthorn Salt which is home to what is said to be the world’s only working graduation thorn tower.
“I’m big on keeping traditions alive and proud of the fact this is based on a historic Angus recipe, using the churner from North Street Dairy,” said Ms Cameron. “North Street Dairy was a renowned family business for over 100 years in Forfar and the owner Hamish Millar and his staff worked to keep his family recipe going.”
Explaining how the collaboration came to fruition after Mr Millar spoke about the traditions of butter-making in Angus at a Gin Bothy event, she added: “On the back of that we decided we wanted to keep Angus butter local. By basing our product on Hamish’s recipe and using his churn, we will put our own unique Bothy slant on it to create a really special product.”
The Gin Bothy’s new Forfar premises are located less than a mile from the town’s historic Buttermarket area, adjacent to the old Angus Council chambers – traditionally a county hub marketplace for producers from Arbroath, Brechin, Montrose and Forfar.
Mr Millar, who latterly ran North Street Dairy with his sister Alison, noted that the business had previously been operated by his parents Aileen and Norman who kept the name of his grandfather, Alan A McLeod, on the firm’s milk bottles. He said he was proud that a family recipe created by his mother and grandmother, Frances McLeod, will now live on.
“The recipe started 45 years ago in our family kitchen,” he said. “My grandmother and mother worked on it. They had surplus cream and put it in the food mixer to see what happened. It tasted delicious so we decided to bring it out. It became very popular with our customers in a niche market.
“I'm excited to see the family recipe continue and Kim is the perfect person to take it on. We’ve helped Kim with the recipe and she’s now got our butter churner to make it. Kim is adding her own imprint to make Bothy Butter. The use of Blackthorn Salt is a really clever adaptation – it gives a lovely kick to the butter and will still maintain the traditional core recipe that our customers loved.”
Available in three varieties – unsalted, salted and Scottish salter (using Blackthorn Salt) – Bothy Butter is suitable for vegetarians. Sales will initially be limited to the Bothy Experience shop in Glamis and the newly-opened Bothy Larder store in Forfar. Larger quantities and catering sizes will also be available on request.
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