WITHIN 48 hours of launching its limited-edition cask sales, 8 Doors Distillery – Scotland’s most northerly mainland Scotch whisky distillery set to open in John O’Groats next summer – has sold out of its 874 Founders Club packages.
Its 874 Founders Club – the top tier of membership – was launched last week and was limited to 250 members. It provided the exclusive opportunity for people to get their hands on unique casks of Highland Single Malt Whisky as part of a package available from £1,600.
Whisky lovers still have the chance to join the 8 Doors Distillery 874 Club which is open to 1,250 members. 874 Club members will get three 70cl bottles of exceptional Highland Single Malt Whisky, matured in first-fill tailor made Spanish casks. Each bottle comes from a different variety of oak cask to showcase the influence of the wood type on the final whisky flavour profile. This limited edition collection has been developed by renowned whisky master John Ramsay for the 874 Club. The bottles packages are £420 (including VAT), and there is an option to pay £42 a month for 10 months.
The 874 Club is named after one of the greatest journeys in the UK – the 874 miles between Land’s End and John O’Groats.
Both packages have a host of benefits, including a members’ card entitling the individual and a friend to free tours for life.
The popularity of the packages being offered by 8 Doors Distillery are helping a dream come true for its founders, local husband and wife team Kerry and Derek Campbell, who have developed a passion for Scotch over many years. They are pressing ahead with their plans for a distillery, visitor centre and bonded warehouse confident in the knowledge that their offering will be in demand.
They are coming closer to opening their distillery next summer, which will initially have eight positions, including a master distiller and a visitor centre manager who are still to be appointed. The £1 million project will establish the first whisky producer in the Caithness village since 1837.
The new Highland Single Malt Whisky will be produced using the purest John O’Groats’ water extracted from a borehole on the distillery site. Its flavour profile will be deeply influenced by the local climate and its situation right beside the sea – hence its strapline ‘Whisky. From the Edge’.
8 Doors Distillery is collaborating with John Ramsay to create its exclusive launch products. John brings with him over 40 years’ experience in the whisky industry, having been involved in the making of some of Scotland’s most well-known whiskies including The Famous Grouse, The Glenrothes and The Macallan.
Kerry Campbell, co-founder of 8 Doors Distillery, said: “It’s great to see our vision of building Scotland’s most northerly distillery in John O’Groats come even closer to reality now that we have sold all of our 874 Founders Club packages. We were confident our 874 packages would prove popular, but we were delighted to see the limited edition cask packages sell out within days of being offered. We still have 874 Club bottle packages available, giving whisky lovers the chance to become part of our story. We see the packages as an ideal gift for Christmas, or any other occasion, or just for someone who wants to treat themselves to something different.”
“We have a passion for whisky and for the local area in Caithness where we both grew up. We’re so pleased to be able to bring them together with the development of our distillery and visitor centre.
“And it was a joy to work with another independent Scottish family-run business, Whisky Hammer, as part of our launch campaign to sell our founders casks.”
