About Borders Distillery
The Borders Distillery occupies a restored industrial building beside the River Teviot in Hawick. It opened in 2018 as the first operating Scotch whisky distillery in the Scottish Borders since 1837, returning commercial whisky-making to a region better known for farming, textiles and historic market towns.
This is a modern Lowland distillery whose story is tied as much to local supply chains and architectural reuse as to inherited whisky tradition. It produces spirit for Scotch whisky alongside gin and malted-barley vodka, allowing visitors to see several approaches to distillation within one working site.
History
A group of whisky-industry colleagues founded the business in 2013 after identifying the long absence of distilling in the Borders. They selected Hawick's former Urban Electric Company works, an early-twentieth-century building with large glazed roof sections and a surviving steel hoist. Converting it retained the industrial character instead of constructing an anonymous new plant outside the town.
The distillery opened in March 2018 and spirit flowed in the Borders for the first time in more than 180 years. The restoration received architectural recognition for conservation and reuse. Because Scotch single malt must mature for at least three years, the business initially developed other spirits and blended whisky projects while its own stocks aged.
The official history presents Hawick's culture of skilled manufacturing as an influence on the company. That connection is more than branding: the distillery is embedded in the town, employs and trains its own team, and uses a building that once supplied power to Hawick's established textile industry.
What makes it distinctive
Barley is grown by partner farms in the Scottish Borders, malted to specification and combined with mineral-rich water drawn from beneath the site. The growers-and-distillers programme is designed for traceability from seed to spirit. Draff and other useful by-products return to local agriculture, creating a practical circular relationship with participating farms.
Four copper pot stills make malt spirit, while a specially commissioned Carterhead still known as Puffing Billy redistils malted-barley spirit for vodka and supports gin production. The equipment makes the site distinctive among visitor distilleries: its output cannot be summarised as a single traditional malt process, even though Scotch whisky is central to its long-term purpose.
Whisky character and significance
The distillery's early whisky releases have included combinations of its own Borders-made spirit rather than only a mature flagship single malt. Its significance therefore lies in rebuilding a regional production tradition and creating traceable local stock for the future. Any bottle should be read by its stated category and composition rather than assumed to be single malt merely because it carries the distillery name.
Visiting Borders Distillery
Tours are led through an active production building and explain its restoration, local barley programme and different stills. The visitor centre and shop are integrated with the converted works, and the official site provides current booking and accessibility details. Published schedules and prices are omitted here because they can change seasonally.
Location and surrounding area
Hawick sits in the Teviot valley and remains strongly associated with cashmere, knitwear, rugby and the Common Riding. The Borders Textile Towerhouse, Wilton Lodge Park and nearby abbey towns provide useful context for a visit. From Edinburgh, the journey is a substantial excursion through the Borders rather than a normal city-centre stop.
- Whisky region
- Lowlands
- Location
- Hawick, TD9 7AQ
- Visitor information
- Check the official website for current tours, tastings, access and booking arrangements.
Further information
Visit the official Borders Distillery website
Borders Distillery: official story and production
Borders Distillery: official visitor experience