Spotlight: Arran Botanical Drinks At Cladach Beach House

By Hannah McLaren -

Arran Botanical Drinks ©

Arran Botanical Drinks micro-distillery boasts a bar, botanicals and beach views. Isle of Arran Gin, the flagship product, is a favourite among visitors.

Cooried away on the breezy east coast of the Isle of Arran, a popular micro distillery bubbles away. Cladach Beach House – in a past life, the Arran Nature Centre – is now home to the Arran Botanical Drinks.

This charming bar, shop and small-scale distillery sits opposite the Wine Port and right next to the Mountain Rescue Centre in Brodick.

The Beach House is bright and airy with views out over the water towards the Ayrshire coast.

Stuart Fraser and his business partner George are the visionaries behind this small island’s big idea. Stuart says, “The gin was a coming together of a local shop and bakehouse on the island. Our existing businesses look and feel different to the rest of Arran, and we wanted to create a different gin within a very crowded craft gin market in Scotland.

“As passionate ‘makers’, we were keen to focus on the taste and ingredients and not just the marketing.

“Arran has its own micro-climate, and the botanicals we work with just seem more emphatic and full-on than equivalent mainland plants. Of course, we’re biased, but we genuinely feel that everything starts with the recipe, and ours is the right blend from the best habitats on a genuinely unique island.”

Arran Gin remains the flagship product as the company release their second product, Arran Cassis.

The first batch of Arran Gin was released for sale back in 2018, which was closely followed by the release of Arran Cassis. While Isle of Arran Gin remains the flagship product, this deliciously sweet blackcurrant elixir aims to make the leap from just gin and take a deep dive into a whole new range of botanical drinks.

The bar offers an expansive range of drinks to tipple your fancy!

The Beach House lab is always undergoing some interesting experiments, and more seasonal offerings can be expected as we move into spring and summer. There are also plenty of gin cocktails available on their “ever-changing Beach Bar cocktail menu”.

When looking for a new home for the distillery, Cladach Beach House seemed like an obvious choice. Stuart says the Beach House has a special place in their hearts as they used to visit it as children, while it was still the Arran Nature Centre, to learn about the local island flora and fauna, natural history and various species.

“There’s something special about maintaining that link to our past,” he says. “And as foragers, we are very much rooted in the local, natural environment. Therefore, it’s perfect that the surrounding garden offers us space for outdoor seating as well as the opportunity to plant botanicals.

“It’s a stunning place to work, and big enough to cope with our production needs.”

There are lots of comfy and cosy nooks to sit and enjoy a drink.

The Beach House building itself is rustic, quirky, and has an interesting past. Its location, virtually at the foot of Brodick Castle and a short walk from the ferry, offers foot traffic and at the same time a sense of quiet remoteness. This site also plays host to a dramatic beach view of mainland Scotland and the Ayrshire coastline.

Offering an intimate events space, expect to see a wide range of activity throughout the seasons. The venue’s main activity of course, is drinks making while running tours and tastings.