Deerness Distillery

Stuart and Adelle Brown, a chartered engineer and a pharmacist who emigrated from Australia with their three children, self-built Deerness Distillery on their croft at Newhall in 2016, becoming the first distillery in the parish in over a century. Gin, vodka and liqueurs are distilled by hand on three Portuguese copper alembic stills named Walt, Zing and Matilda, with every bottle labelled and wax-sealed on site rather than sent out for finishing. In 2024 the Browns added three further stills, Bruce, Sheila and Kylie, dedicated to whisky production, and opened an on-site kitchen and bar called the Dashing Deer, built with a curved design echoing the shape of a whisky cask. The distillery remains independent and family-run, distinct from the multinational-owned distilleries elsewhere on Orkney.