Distillery Services | Contract Distilling & White Label Spirits | Biggar Gin
Contract Distilling & White Labelling
We make award-winning spirits for ourselves. We can make them for you, too.
The Stillhouse in Biggar has produced a 98/100 gin at the IWSC, a three-star Great Taste spirit, and award-winning expressions across gin, rum, and liqueur. That same facility, those same copper pot stills, and that same production process are available to brands, businesses, and individuals who want a quality spirit made to their brief.
What we offer
Two routes to a spirit with your name on it.
We offer two services: contract distilling for those who want something made from scratch, and white labelling for those who want an established, award-winning recipe under their own brand. Both are available across gin, vodka, and spiced rum.
| Contract Distilling | White Labelling | |
|---|---|---|
| What is it? | A spirit made to your brief from scratch | An existing award-winning recipe under your brand |
| Recipe | Custom — yours | Ours, proven and tested |
| Spirit options | Gin, Vodka, Spiced Rum | Gin, Vodka, Spiced Rum |
| Timeline | Longer — includes development and sampling | Shorter — recipe is ready |
| Minimum quantities | Higher | Lower |
| Best for | Brands, hospitality venues, commemorative projects | Businesses, events, retail, hospitality |
| Investment | Higher — bespoke work | Lower — established product |
Not sure which route is right for your project? Use our guide below.
Already know what you need? We'll respond to every enquiry personally.
Tell us about your projectContract Distilling
Your spirit. Our stills. No shortcuts.
Contract distilling means we create a spirit specifically for you. Your recipe, your character brief, your botanicals, your bottle, your brand. The production happens at The Stillhouse using our copper pot stills and our process — but the result is entirely yours.
We take on a limited number of contract projects at a time. When we do take one on, it gets Stuart and Euan's full and undivided attention — not a production line, not a junior distiller following a brief.
Gin
Gin is where our expertise runs deepest. We've developed expressions across every major gin style — and the range we've built for ourselves shows what the still is capable of.
Styles we can produce for you:
- London Dry — the classic, uncompromising style. No flavourings after distillation. Clean, juniper-forward, versatile. Our most-requested contract style.
- Contemporary / New Western — less juniper-dominant, built around a lead botanical of your choosing. Floral, fruity, citrus-led, herbal — we can develop a profile around whatever you want the gin to be.
- Old Tom — a lightly sweetened style that suits cocktail menus and approachable retail products. We use Belgian Candi Sugar in our own Old Tom.
- Navy / High Strength — bottled at 57% ABV or above. More botanical intensity, better performance in cocktails. Our own Biggar Strength at this style scored 98/100 at the IWSC.
- Cask Aged — rested in ex-spirit or wine casks for added depth and complexity. We've worked with sherry and chestnut casks for our own expressions.
- Flavoured — a post-distillation fruit, botanical, or flavour addition. Works well for seasonal or gift-focused products.
Botanical sourcing: We can work with botanicals local to your region if provenance is part of your brief — as we did for the Suonare gin, which incorporated botanicals from Seville, France, Calabria, South America, and the Scottish Borders. Or we source the best available ingredients regardless of origin.
Vodka
Vodka is a different discipline from gin — fewer variables, nowhere to hide, and quality determined almost entirely by the base spirit and distillation process.
We produce vodka from Scottish grain, distilled in our copper pot stills and refined to the clean, smooth character that quality vodka demands. Local Biggar water at bottling gives it a distinct Scottish character without compromising the neutrality the category demands.
- Classic neutral vodka — clean, smooth, no flavouring. The benchmark against which a brand is judged.
- Premium grain vodka — emphasising the grain character rather than eliminating it. A more characterful style for brands wanting a point of difference.
- Flavoured vodka — post-distillation additions for flavoured expressions. Fruit, botanical, or seasonal variants.
Vodka suits white labelling for many clients — if a custom recipe isn't necessary, the white-label route can deliver a quality product to market faster and at lower cost.
Spiced Rum
Our Asian Spiced Rum is the proof of concept — a blend of Scottish white rum and white Caribbean rum, spiced with six Asian-inspired ingredients, including Szechuan pepper, allspice, and cloves. The blend approach lets us combine the character of Caribbean-grown molasses with the precision of Scottish distillation and blending.
- Spiced rum to your flavour brief — warm and wintery, or more aromatic and year-round. Spice profile adjusted to your target drinker.
- Caribbean-Scottish blend — our established approach, combining white Caribbean rum base with Scottish character and spicing.
- Single-origin style — for brands wanting a simpler, cleaner rum with a specific character.
Rum is well-suited to seasonal and gift positioning, but strong year-round performers are possible depending on the spice profile. We can work through flavour options during the development stage.
The process
How contract distilling works.
Initial brief
Tell us what you want the spirit to be — category, style, character, intended drinker, occasion. The more detail the better, but a rough brief is enough to start a conversation.
Recipe development
We develop an initial recipe and conduct sampling runs. You'll taste the spirit at this stage and give feedback. We adjust and refine until we have something you're fully happy with.
Sampling sign-off
Before moving to production, you confirm the recipe. This becomes the benchmark against which every production run is checked.
Production
Full run on our copper pot stills. Same process, same quality control as our own range. Bottled, labelled, and prepared for delivery.
Delivery
Delivered to your address or — for hospitality clients — directly to your venue.
White Labelling
An award-winning spirit. Your name on it.
White labelling means taking a spirit we already make — an established recipe with a proven track record — and presenting it under your brand.
No recipe development. No sampling rounds. A faster, more cost-effective route to a quality product with your name on it. The liquid inside is exactly what we produce for our own range: the same recipe, the same distillation, the same quality control. Only the label changes.
What's available for white labelling
Gin
| Spirit | Style | ABV | Award |
|---|---|---|---|
| Biggar Gin | London Dry | 43% | Gin Guide Category Winner 2018 |
| Biggar Strength Gin | High Strength London Dry | 57% | IWSC 98/100 · Great Taste 3 Stars |
| Old Tom Gin | Sweetened | 43% | Scottish Gin Awards Gold 2024 |
| Herbaceous Gin | Contemporary | 43% | Great Taste 1 Star |
Vodka
| Spirit | Style | ABV |
|---|---|---|
| Scottish Grain Vodka | Clean neutral | 40% |
Spiced Rum
| Spirit | Style | ABV |
|---|---|---|
| Asian Spiced Rum | Caribbean-Scottish blend, Asian spice | 40% |
If the spirit you're looking for isn't in this table, it may be better suited to contract distilling — or get in touch and we'll advise.
The white labelling process
Choose your spirit
Select from the spirits available above. If you're unsure, tell us about your audience and intended use, and we'll recommend the right product.
Artwork
You supply your logo and brand assets. We'll give you the label specifications — dimensions, file format, print requirements. We can connect you with a designer if you need one.
Approval
We produce a pre-production sample with your label applied for final sign-off before the full run.
Production and delivery
We bottle your order, apply your labels, and deliver.
Not sure which route to take?
Use this as a guide.
Choose this if…
- You want a spirit that is genuinely unique to your brand
- The recipe or provenance story is part of your product proposition
- You're launching a spirit brand, not just using spirits as a brand extension
- You have a specific character brief and are willing to go through a development process
- You're marking a specific occasion or milestone that deserves something made for it
Choose this if…
- You want a proven, award-winning spirit under your brand without the development investment
- You need a shorter timeline or lower minimum quantity
- The spirit is a brand extension or gift product rather than your core product
- You want the credibility of an IWSC-winning or Great Taste-awarded liquid without starting from scratch
Still unsure?
Tell us about your project — what it's for, who it's for, and what you want it to achieve. We'll tell you honestly which route makes more sense and what it will cost.
Past work
What we've produced for others.
Contract Distilling · Commemorative
Suonare — Scottish Opera
A commemorative gin created in partnership with Scottish Opera for their 60th anniversary. The brief required a spirit that reflected both the opera company's heritage and its ambition.
We developed a London Dry gin with botanicals sourced internationally — oranges from Seville, lavender from France, bergamot from Calabria, pink peppercorn from South America, and nettles from the Scottish Borders. The bottle, designed with Glasgow-based agency Tangent, incorporated a label with die-cut holes forming a musical score from a Puccini aria performed in Scottish Opera's inaugural 1962 season. The label removes and fits a music box mechanism to play Un Bel Di from Madama Butterfly. Hand-dipped gold wax cap. FSC-approved paper throughout.
This was a project that required craft, precision, creative collaboration, and patience. The result was a bottle that told a complete story — one you could drink, display, and play.
"[Client quote to be added — a sentence or two from Scottish Opera about the experience of working with Biggar Gin on this project.]"
Scottish Opera · 60th Anniversary
Contract Distilling · Hospitality
Shieldhill Castle — House Gin
A custom gin developed exclusively for Shieldhill Castle, a luxury hotel near Biggar. A house spirit that guests can only taste in one place — reflecting the character of the venue and its local setting.
This is one of the strongest use cases for contract distilling in hospitality: a genuinely exclusive product that becomes part of the guest experience, with real craft provenance.
"[Client quote to be added — a sentence or two from Shieldhill Castle about the house gin and working with The Stillhouse.]"
Shieldhill Castle · House Gin
White Labelling · Corporate
Corporate and branded projects
We've also produced co-branded work for corporate gifting programmes — including branded accessories and packaging developed in partnership with sustainability brand Vegware.
If you're looking for a gifting application rather than a full production run, our corporate gifting page covers the options.
Why work with us
There are larger contract distilleries. Here's why clients choose The Stillhouse instead.
We make exceptional spirits ourselves.
The process we apply to contract work is the same process that produced a 98/100 IWSC score and three Great Taste stars. We're not a neutral production facility — we're craft distillers who also take on contract work. The quality baseline is our own range.
We're small enough to care about your project.
When you commission work at The Stillhouse, Stuart and Euan develop your recipe and run your production. Not a junior distiller following a brief. The people you speak to are the ones who make your spirit.
We have experience with complex briefs.
The Suonare project involved international botanical sourcing, a custom bottle design, a mechanical label mechanism, and a tight anniversary deadline. If we can deliver that, we can deliver your project.
We're honest about what we can and can't do.
We don't take on more than we can produce well. If your brief isn't a good fit for The Stillhouse — whether that's because of volume, timeline, or spirit category — we'll tell you, and point you toward someone better suited.
Common questions
Things people ask before getting in touch.
Is the recipe exclusive to me?
For contract distilling, yes — entirely. The recipe we develop belongs to you. We won't produce it for anyone else. For white labelling, the liquid is our established recipe, but your label and branding are yours alone. Other clients may use the same recipe under their own identity.
Can I visit The Stillhouse during development?
Yes, and we'd encourage it. The development stage is more productive when you can taste alongside us. We'll arrange a visit during sampling so you can give feedback in the distillery rather than by email. Distillery tours are also available separately if you'd like to see The Stillhouse before committing to a project.
What if I need volume you can't produce?
We're honest about this. Our maximum batch size is 140 bottles for gin. If your requirements significantly exceed that, we'll tell you upfront and — if we can — point you toward a facility better suited to your volume. We'd rather give you the right answer than take on something we can't deliver properly.
Do you handle packaging and fulfilment?
We handle bottling and labelling as part of the production process. For delivery, we can ship directly to your address or — for hospitality clients — to your venue. For larger or more complex fulfilment requirements (multiple addresses, bespoke gift packaging), speak to us about what you need and we'll advise what's practical.
How long does the whole process take?
For contract distilling, recipe development typically takes 4–6 weeks from your initial brief. Total timeline depends on complexity and sampling rounds. For white labelling, once your artwork is approved, expect 6 weeks to delivery. If you have a fixed deadline — an event, anniversary, or launch date — tell us early and we'll work back from it.
Ready?
Tell us about your project.
We respond to every enquiry personally. Tell us what you're making, whether you're thinking contract distilling or white labelling, what it's for, rough volume, and your target date. That's enough to get started.
Or call us on 01899 872122 — we're at the distillery Tuesday to Thursday.