MOFFAT’S newest visitor attraction opened its doors to the public this week.
The Dark Sky Spirits whisky and gin distillery located on Old Carlisle Road has been under development and construction for a number of years and is owned by residents Nick and Erin Bullard who moved to the town eight years ago.
Initially the couple wanted to open a shop in the town but with Nick’s interest in blending whisky combined with the upstart costs, they believed they could bring something new to the town and so they decide to create their own distillery and give something back to the town.
Erin said: “The distillery was definitely more Nick’s idea, initially he wanted to have a whisky shop in the town but when we looked into the cost of it we thought we could do so much more, so Nick started blending because he’s always been fascinated with combining different things and creating new things.
“We wanted to give something back to the town that’s given so much to us since we moved here eight years ago. We’ve got beautiful surroundings at the distillery and we wanted to create another place for people to come and gather and see something being made.”
So far the distillery has released a number of products including the Moffat and the Doonhamer blended whiskies as well as its award-winning liqueurs and its first wood-fired gin.
Now with the construction complete, the distillery has opened its doors to the public with Nick leading the first tours of the building’s facilites and Erin serving behind the bar.
The couple are thrilled that this chapter of the project is complete.
Nick added: “It’s nice to be at this point, but for us the time has flown by because there’s always been stuff going on.
“There’s a sense of validation for the project, we’ve had a lot of good feedback from people in the town so there’s definitely a sense of accomplishment that comes with getting people through the doors and relief for getting it over the line, not just for us but for the town too.
Erin added: “The beauty of space is that we can do so many things with it, we can make whisky and gin, we can have people come in for coffee, we can have concerts and we’ve got 17 acres of land and a pond that we can use for outdoor activities and to support wildlife.
“I don’t think we could’ve done this anywhere else, we’ve got three kids and we’ve had them involved along the way and it’s just been a lovely supportive place to be.
“The community has been so open and just to get to this point means a lot to us and we feel really lucky.”
