A spirit of ADVENTURE

There has been an explosion in craft distilling in the UK, and women are often at the heart of it

Great gin

Former nurse Kecia McDougall, 57, is director and distiller at Tayport Distillery in Fife, which produces an award-winning range of spirits including eau de vie, vodka and gin.

I have always loved experimenting with distilling at home. I come from Ohio, where there is a big craft distilling movement.

When I left the NHS, I took my idea of launching a distillery to Business Gateway Fife, which supports businesses on behalf of the council. They gave me some funding and I educated myself through books and podcasts.

I also did a course at the Institute of Brewing and Distilling, and we launched in 2017.

First, I did everything myself, including all the mashing and fermenting, but we have since upgraded our equipment, which has helped. My first product was raspberry eau de vie, a clear fruit brandy. It's a quirky product and must be tasted to be appreciated, so when COVID hit and tasting events were impossible, we had to change direction.

We launched a gin, a vodka and two cassis-style liqueurs, raspberry and blackcurrant, which are delicious in fizz.

It was the best thing we could have done, and these now make up 80% of sales, plus our Scots Pine gin is very popular at Christmas.

Versatile vodka