The Borders Distillery, Hawick: The First in the Borders for 180 Years
The Borders at a glance
| Region | Lowland (Hawick, Scottish Borders) |
| Founded | 2018 |
| Owner | The Three Stills Company |
| Visitor centre | Yes — in a restored Victorian works |
| Tours | Distiller-led tours, Mon–Sat (11/1/3) |
| Opening | Mon–Sat — check the website |
| Website | thebordersdistillery.com |
Overview
The Borders Distillery, in the textile town of Hawick, was the first legal distillery in the Scottish Borders since 1837 — filling a long gap in the whisky map. Opened in 2018 in a handsome restored Victorian building, it makes a smooth Lowland malt from locally-grown barley.
The history
The Borders was founded by four whisky-industry veterans and opened in 2018, restoring the former Hawick electrical works into a distillery. Its arrival gave the Borders — long famous for tweed and rugby rather than whisky — a distillery of its own again after nearly two centuries.
The water & the land
The Borders draws its water from the River Teviot.
The Borders has no clan link — this is Lowland Border country, the land of the reiving families and the great textile towns, with its own fiercely local identity rather than a Highland clan tradition.
Visiting
The Borders runs distiller-led tours Monday to Saturday (typically at 11, 1 and 3) — check the website. Hawick makes a good base for the Borders abbeys and textile mills.
Nearby & more whisky
- Lowland — the region overview
- South-west in Dumfriesshire: Annandale
- The whole picture: Scotch whisky — the full guide
Sources
- The Borders distillery — Wikipedia.
- The Borders Distillery.