Ice and fire

You can now drink Crofters’ Tears. “Crofts are still are in our genes, so it was inevitable we’d make our own gin and rum. Many crofters in Caithness supplemented their croft income with illicit whisky,” Stephen Wright, of the Ice & Fire Distillery, observes.  The distillery is located just outside the small village of Latheronwheel. Master joiner Wright found some juniper berries while rock climbing. He decided to give gin-making a go and the local Forse & District Climbing Club were more than willing guinea pigs. After extensive trials, they gave Crofters’ Tears Highland Gin their approval and the green light.  In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the micro-distillery has now become the UK’s most northerly producer of hand sanitiser, distributed free to local surgeries, shops and care workers. Black wanted to do something for the local medical staff. He was diagnosed with a rare, untreatable cancer and owes the local doctors, hospital and medical staff a debt of gratitude and this is his way of thanking them. Awards of over £9,000 have been made by the SSE Beatrice Caithness Fund and the E.ON Camster Community which has given the remote distillery funds to begin large-scale...