Kimbland Distillery — Islands Single Malt Whisky

Kimbland Distillery is a Scotch whisky and gin distillery located on the island of Sanday, Orkney, in the Islands region of Scotland. It was incorporated in 2017 and began distilling in 2020, but has been mothballed since 2023 and, as of December 2025, is the subject of an active Food Standards Scotland safety warning advising against purchasing or consuming any of its products. For a time it was one of the world's most northerly working Scotch whisky distilleries and marketed itself as carbon-negative, using locally grown bere barley, an ancient Orcadian grain.

History

Kimbland distillery was established on Sanday, Orkney, by local resident Sebastian Hadfield-Hyde and incorporated as Kimbland Distillery Ltd in August 2017. Production began in 2020, and the distillery reportedly started maturing its first Scotch whisky in 2023. It held the title of the world's most northerly Scotch whisky distillery until the Lerwick Distillery opened in Shetland in 2022. Kimbland drew its process water from an on-site borehole and used Orcadian bere barley, a heritage grain grown in the islands since the Neolithic period, and it promoted itself as the world's first carbon-negative distillery. In 2023, its founder publicly disputed a rival Orkney producer's claim to be the first new Scotch whisky distillery on the islands since Scapa opened in 1885, arguing that Kimbland had begun maturing whisky earlier. The distillery was mothballed in 2023 and, according to press reports, had not distilled anything for roughly 18 months by December 2025. On 16 December 2025, Food Standards Scotland issued an urgent warning advising consumers not to purchase or consume any Kimbland product — including its new make spirit, its Sanday Tempest, Sanday Sunset and Sanday No.1 gins, and any filled casks — after the company failed to demonstrate that its products met required safety standards. The distillery's own website has since gone offline, and its operating status remains mothballed.

Quick Facts

• Region: Islands (Orkney)
• Founded: 2017 (incorporated); distilling began 2020
• Owner: Kimbland Distillery Ltd (founder Sebastian Hadfield-Hyde)
• Status: Closed — mothballed since 2023, and subject to a December 2025 Food Standards Scotland warning against purchase or consumption of its products

Core Range

Kimbland's output was limited to new make spirit — its Scotch whisky had not completed the statutory three years' minimum maturation before production ceased — and three gins: Sanday Tempest, Sanday Sunset and Sanday No.1. Food Standards Scotland has formally advised that no product from Kimbland distillery, including these gins and any casked spirit, should be purchased or consumed.