Arbikie Highland Estate has announced a new US national distribution partnership with Winebow Imports.
“We’re honored to represent Arbikie and tremendously impressed by their ‘field to bottle’ approach,” said Ian Downey, Executive Vice President of Winebow Imports. “They’re one of the few distilleries genuinely making their spirits from scratch. We couldn’t be more excited to introduce them to our customers.”
Winebow is a national importer and distributer that offers a dynamic portfolio of fine wines and spirits from around the world. Winebow has a distribution network of 18 markets since being established in 1980.
Privately owned by the Stirling family, who have been farming in Scotland since the 1660s, Arbikie is led by three brothers – John, Iain and David – who spent their childhood on their 2,000-acre farm. In 2014, they started a small distillery, with a goal to produce world-class spirits made from their own crops.
Notably, all ingredients for their spirits – including strawberries, potatoes, juniper, and honey – are planted, sown, grown and harvested within an arm’s length of their distillery. They use botanicals typical of the area, produce their own base spirit, and bottle and label everything at the farm. Even the water for their spirits is sourced from their own lagoon.
“We’re thrilled to embark on this new adventure with Winebow Imports,” said John Stirling. “We share a fine wine mentality, in that all our spirits can all be traced back to specific plots on our farm. It’s fitting that we would turn to a team of wine experts to help tell our story.”
Included in the Arbikie range is a new line of pea-based spirits called Nàdar (“nature” in Gaelic), which removes more carbon dioxide from the atmosphere than it emits, making it “climate-positive,” according to Kirsty Black, master distiller at Arbikie.
The distillery uses solar power as one of its energy sources and is in the process of installing a revolutionary green hydrogen energy system, furthering its goal to become a global leader in the production of sustainable spirits.
Iain Stirling commented: “We are delighted to announce this deal on Tartan Day when the US is celebrating the contribution of Scotland and the Scots to the creation and development of the United States. The 6th April celebration commemorates the Declaration of Arbroath signed in our home town in 1320, the timing of this good news could not be better. Happy Tartan Day to all our American friends, family and customers.