Kintyre’s first gin festival took place last weekend and by all accounts it can be hailed as a massive success. The Ardshiel Hotel in Campbeltown kicked things off with a fantastic three course gin-paired menu, bringing together Harris Gin for the starter, ourselves for the main and Cadenhead’s Old Raj for dessert. The food was exquisite and it was a lovely, fun evening which really set the tone for the rest of the weekend.
We were blessed with a beautiful sunny day on the Saturday which saw Campbeltown looking its best and showed off the recently renovated town hall perfectly. Ticket holders started filing in at 1pm, accompanied by pipers from the Beinn an Tuirc Kintyre Pipe Band and from then on, the gin flowed! 
It was a fabulous afternoon – ticket holders were treated to tastes from 9 producers, including ourselves, 2 complementary g&ts from the bar and beautiful harp music in the background by Katherine Harrison. The venue was perfect and most people stayed for the whole afternoon, enjoying the gin and the music. Feedback from the producers was very positive with a common theme being that they enjoyed the intimate vibe that is missing from the bigger gin festivals up the road. We are already planning Gintyre 2.0 for next year!
We decided our wee feet were too sore to trek back to town for the evening band but it sounds like we missed a treat! Rose Room were excellent apparently. We entertained the three lovely ladies from Lussa Gin back at Torrisdale and compared stories about our gin-making experiences. What a great bunch. It really is such a friendly industry to be in.
On Sunday, after the obligatory wild swim (me and Georgina from Lussa Gin), some of us (me again!) got to chill out watching a special Gintyre showing of Casblanca at the Campbeltown Picture House while Niall and Su conducted tours of the distillery.
The perfect weekend!
