Our Story

"We believe in creating perfection. We are committed to quality no matter whether it is the product or the quality of the team that we engage. 

When we put our NB name on a bottle, we promise that inside will be every bit as ‘perfect’ as our original. Whatever the product."

Jamie MacDonald and Iain Bell, Owners and Directors


We must admit gin has always been something of an obsession for us. When we started, our ambition was to create the 'perfect' gin. The London Dry process is recognised as being the most exacting and meticulous way to create high quality gin in small batches. So naturally, we followed this process. We started off experimenting in our home kitchen 'ginnery' with a pressure cooker and some old central heating pipes - hardly glamorous, but our makeshift ‘still’ was a great way to test hundreds of different botanicals with water to see which worked together the best.

Pressure cooker

We distilled, refined and distilled again over hundreds of batches and thousands of hours - before finally we created the gin we believed was 'perfect'. A gin worthy of putting our name to - NB, our home town of North Berwick. Having perfected our recipe, we invested in a custom-built still called 'Gloria', made to our exact specifications by the world’s oldest and most revered still-makers. A still that would be able to precisely replicate our tried and tested recipe. We then moved out of our kitchen and into a small unit in North Berwick to continue distilling our products.

Within just two years, our gin had won many admirers from near and far and in 2015 it was voted the Best London Dry Gin in the world. We achieved what we originally set out to do: to create 'perfection' that's recognised globally.

Gloria copper gin still and welcome sign

As business has expanded, we now operate production and luxury experience tours from our purpose built, eco-friendly and sustainable distillery which is based on the outskirts of our town (near Tantallon Castle). Awarded 5 stars by Visit Scotland, we are a tourist attraction also and visitors are welcome to pop by to view our working distillery, have a chat (and a wee sample!) and browse our Cellar Door Shop. 

NB Distillery Tasting Lounge

Our visitors are welcomed from all over the world to "Learn, Sample & Relax" on our Ginspiration Tour. You will hear more about the NB 'story', our amazing journey and successes. Then onto a behind-the-scenes tour of production to learn how we make our world class spirits. Time to relax and sample all our lovely NB Gins and NB Rum in our beautiful tasting lounge. 

We'll always remain a small company, only ever using the London Dry process, believing in our people and their skills and working as hard as ever. And when we put our NB name on a bottle, we promise that inside will be every bit as 'perfect' as our Original. Whatever the product.

We hope to see you soon! 

Fire, dining room and copper still