Winter in Harris can be long and dark with the sun rising at 9am and darkness falling upon us again by 4pm.
So far this month we've had wild winds blow in from the Atlantic bringing with it cancelled ferry sailings and lightning strikes have caused internet outages across our home village.
But with the twinkling of Christmas lights throughout Tarbert and the warmth of the community it remains a wonderful time to be festive with family and friends.
Even in these short December days, the distillery fire continues to burn strongly bringing a spark of light and elemental joy to those braving the elements to join us.
Here at the distillery there has been no shortage of festive spirit with guests enjoying mulled drinks alongside traditional mince pies and decadent slices of Christmas cake from distillery baker Mairi.
And our beautifully decorated real Christmas tree has stood proudly alongside our traditional Isle of Harris Gin tree, each lighting the way to our distillery shop.
In this final week before the big day, our Bottling Hall has been a hive of activity with our elves hard at work packaging those last-minute gifts for 2019.
But there’s still been time to share hot mugs of spiced Isle of Harris Gin as we gathered by the tree as a family on Wednesday to exchange Christmas gifts with one another.
This Monday 23rd December we invite the community to gather with us too for our annual day of festive family fun.
We’ll have face painting, kids crafts and Christmas treats to enjoy before the arrival of Santa Claus himself at 4pm after the annual village Santa Run.
While our stills will be silent and our doors finally closed from 3pm on Christmas Eve our island spirit will be available to click and collect throughout the festive season from our many dispensaries across the UK.
Simply click with us online, connect with your nearest pick-up point and collect instantly, without waiting for delivery.
And life will return to our distillery again on Wednesday 8th January at 10am, after our team has enjoyed a well-earned break over the festive period.
Before we go, we’d like to send the warmest wishes to you and yours, and to all our friends near and far. We hope you will have a very Merry Christmas wherever you may be!