Like generations of Harris people before us, we have strong ties to our island but have never been afraid to venture out into the world.
As a community with a long history of seafaring, as well as waves of emigration, leaving our shores, it’s fair to say the Hearaich, have always found themselves exploring all corners of the globe.
So, it's only natural for our distillery to do likewise, sending our Isle of Harris Gin to far-flung countries, sharing both spirit and story with new friends and gin fans as we go.
We currently export to 12 countries including France, Germany, the Netherlands, Denmark, Switzerland, Malta, Greece, Japan, Canada, New Zealand, Taiwan, and Australia.
We’re pleased to now add 4 more new destinations to this list as we announce our first orders for Mexico and Italy have now arrived at their destination and we're ready to ship to Sweden and Poland by the end of this month.
It is a complicated business sending our beautiful bottles by land and sea to all these new places, hundreds and thousands of miles from our distillery doors.
But the logistical planning and piles of paperwork involved help to create more jobs here in Harris and these overseas sales are contributing strongly to our continued success.
One member of the Tarbert team who has found his role evolving over the last few years as a result is Peter Kwasniewski who is now tasked with taking our spirit to the world.
Peter is originally from Poland but now lives in the Harris village of Drinishader and has been with us since day one of the distillery story.
He’s pleased to be sharing a taste of his island home with the people of his former homeland as he returns briefly to Poland to help launch Isle of Harris Gin in Sababa cocktail bar in Krakow and Podwale Bar & Books in Warsaw on the 22nd and 23rd of November.
Peter enthuses…
“We are extremely proud that every bottle is distilled, bottled and dispatched from the Isle of Harris. But we are not standing still, we are always on the lookout for the new and exciting markets with which we can share the love for great spirit. A lot is happening in the background too so make sure you watch our social media to keep up to date! “
With that in mind, we should have some good news very soon for those waiting patiently on the other side of the Atlantic for us to reach them.
More on that shortly, meantime here’s to the challenge of bringing our work from Tarbert to the world and all the benefits it brings.