A Sit Down with Michael

A Sit Down with Michael
This week we sat down with Michael, our Managing Director & Co-founder of the Isle of Barra Distillers, this is a rare opportunity to chat with our Managing Director and one that we really enjoyed.



We dived right in and asked what’s next for the Family Distillery?
“It’s an exciting time for us all, from our team involved both within and out with the distillery, and of course with our connections to the Island as a whole. I believe we are joined by all with the excitement of what the future has to offer. You know of course the big project we’re working on right now is our whisky distillery & visitors centre, such a hugely special project to be a part. A challenge yes, but that’s what life is all about.”
We also wanted to ask Michael, what is a day in the life of the Isle of Barra Distillers Managing Director, please find his answer below;

5am
Every morning starts the same. It's not the alarm that goes off but the kids that wake us up, as both Micheal (three) and Ada (one) get up most mornings around this time. It's downstairs we go, and straight into the morning bottle - milk for them, of course. After a little time to wake up while watching either Spiderman or Masha and the Bear, there’s a quick wrestle on the rug with Micheal and a cuddle from Ada.

6am
Work begins, starting with the emails, in order to catch up from what was missed during the night and get back to what I meant to reply to from the previous evening. This is followed by the first cappuccino of the day and certainly not the last.

9am
Our gin still, also named Ada, is fired up and our distillery comes alive. Now another coffee!

10am
The shop opens and it’s time to get the previous day's mail orders ready for the daily post collection at midday. It's all hands-on deck for this as we like to make sure that our shipments leave only a small carbon footprint when taking the extensive journey from us to the customer. We do this by utilising existing public transport links to send our gin to the mainland and beyond. So, it's vital we make sure we get our orders out every day and on time.
3pm
Ada, our gin still, is coming to the end of her distillation run for the day. It’s time to grab another coffee before our daily visit from the kids, which happens after Micheal finishes up from his day at nursery. We have a quick chat about whatever puddles he was jumping in and do a few high fives, then it’s a quick tidy up before I head upstairs to start the round of daily Zoom meetings. Almost time for another coffee.

6.30pm
Depending on how busy my day is, I can head home about now. Fingers crossed I make it home for bath time with the kids, as it’s the only part of the day when I can switch off from work. The only thing I need to think about now is how much fun we can have. I usually throw some cold water over Micheal before he quickly fires some back. Then it’s time to get changed into pj’s, downstairs for a wee snack and to watch some Iggle Piggle, and before you know it's time for their bed.

8pm
The kids are down and it's our dinner time. By now, I’d probably eat anything and everything before it's back onto those emails for an hour or so. I catch up on some social media, the emails are checked and, with a bit of luck I grab an hour of Netflix before it’s bedtime and the whole day starts again. I wouldn’t change it for the world!

Michael added “we say that we are a family Distillery, and we really are but that is much more than Katie, myself and our children. Our staff have their children call in, our close friends call by with theirs to say hello and we even have Debbie’s beautiful dog Mylo call by from time to time. It’s all about having a connection, making everyone welcome and sharing this experience with everyone”

We thanked Michael for taking the time to sit down and have such a great catch up.

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