Isle of Cumbrae

Isle of Cumbrae Distillers is owned by 5 full and part-time “Millportonians”, distinctively positioned as being one of the few all-female distilling teams in Scotland, and the only international women’s team, drawing representation from the UK, Canada and the USA.

A love of the island…and gin, first brought us together, probably in one of Millport’s 5 pubs; certainly, the conversations blossomed during Thursday quiz nights at the Twa Dugs! Our conversations evolved from the general idea for an island distillery to raise funds to support the campaign to save Millport’s historic Town Hall building – a commitment that remains near and dear to us - to the realization that with our collective life experience, skills, enthusiasm, and “why the hell not” attitude, we could be the ones to start up a distillery for the island!

And so our story began in 2019. We launched our first gin in September 2020...in the middle of the pandemic! By the end of our first year, we had produced two international award-winning gins. Our signature gin, Nostalgin, won gold at the Gin Masters and bronze at IWSC as well as finalist standings at the Scottish Gin Awards and the Gin Guide; Croc Rock won silver at the Gin Masters and bronze at IWSC...a huge accomplishment for any distillery in its first year. To add to those accolades, our team was also a finalist for Best Newcomer for the Scottish Gin Awards!