Nominee Summary
The Moffat Distillery is a family-run, independently owned Scotch whisky and gin distillery in the Scottish Southern Uplands. Home to Scotland’s first wood-fired stills in 200 years, we produce small-batch spirits using traditional methods with modern sustainability. Founded by Nick and Erin Bullard, our growing team crafts whisky that connects people to place, story, and each other. We offer immersive tours, tastings, and community events, championing inclusive experiences and regenerative land stewardship. From locally sourced wood fuel to rewilding efforts, every part of our process honours nature, craft, and community—making whisky differently: soulfully, sustainably, and with deep local roots.
What makes your nominee stand out?
Our approach to hospitality begins long before a guest steps through our doors. From our thoughtfully crafted website to personal confirmation emails and warm pre-arrival communication, we set the scene for an experience that is intimate, authentic and rooted in genuine human connection. Our tours are deeply sensory and immersive. From the sweet scent of fermenting wash to the gentle woodsmoke curling through the air, every detail is designed to engage the senses. Guests touch grain, feel the heat from our wood-fired stills, inhale the aromas of the evolving spirit, and taste drinks carefully selected for a range of palates. It’s whisky experienced as art, science, and story. We intentionally keep group sizes small to ensure each visitor feels personally engaged. This intimacy encourages rich storytelling, spontaneous questions and shared curiosity between guests and guides. Our guides take our guests on the journey of the birth of whisky making in Moffat, highlighting the culture and history in this region and help guests connect the past with the present. The tour isn’t just a presentation, it’s an interactive experience, connecting tour members’ experiences with how the distillery works. Being a part of the wider community is important to portray to our guests. Painting a picture of how the distillery fits in the history and culture of whisky making in Scotland, it’s place in the tapestry of Moffat’s history and community and how we envision small-scale whisky production.
Changes that have been implemented
Since opening our doors in July 2023, we’ve welcomed over 12,000 visitors and led more than 4,000 people through immersive distillery tours. Our development as a visitor attraction has been shaped by ongoing feedback, gathered through direct emails, post-event surveys, and over 375 five-star reviews across TripAdvisor, Google, Facebook and Regiondo. One key theme in visitor feedback has been the desire for more personalised experiences. In response, we’ve developed a suite of over a dozen customisable packages tailored to individuals, interest groups, and travel trade, offering everything from private tastings to storytelling and music-infused experiences. We are committed to accessibility and inclusivity as part of our responsible tourism approach. Listed on Euan’s Guide, our tours are designed to support a range of needs, with wheelchair access throughout, designated seating, and adaptations for visual and auditory accessibility. A comprehensive online Access Guide will launch later in 2025. Sustainable travel is also a priority. With more than 40% of guests arriving by foot, bike or public transport, we’re working to—open up footpaths to create a safe, scenic connection between the distillery and town.
Overcoming challenges
In 2020, the Hearthlands were established on 17 acres just on the outskirts of Moffat. Known for its convenient location on the M74 between the Central Belt and the English border, the town hasn’t had a major attraction in over 100 years when the Moffat Hydropathic Hotel burned to the ground. Designed to blend in with the landscape surrounded by rolling hills, farms and the still thriving former spa town, the Moffat Distillery was born out of love for the town, the people and the beautiful countryside. With a desire to extend the warm welcome and sense of belonging that we (Nick and Erin Bullard) felt upon settling in the town in 2015, the distillery became the beating heart of the Hearthlands - a whisky hearth and place of connection. Starting in 2020 and completing the build in 2023, we opened with a vision of making whisky differently: sustainably, soulfully and slowly. Deliberately small-scale, we honour craftsmanship and invite visitors to forge meaningful connections with spirit and nature. Without the backing of investors and only the support of government grants and loans, we are working to build a place that is more than a distillery and visitor centre. Organic growth, word of mouth, and slowly bringing our small-scale production to life is our strategy for long-term growth. Careful transformation of the land from grazing to rewilding along with sustainable production and responsible tourism are the pillars of our visitor experience.
