Lammermoor Station has distilling at its heart. A landmark destination for gold miners, prospectors and other hardy souls during the 1860s, Lammermoor illegally distilled “moonshine” for travellers on the Dunstan Trail. And today the tradition continues.

The Elliot family began to farm the 15,000 acre Central Otago station in the early 1900s. The distillery was no longer functioning. But the land held secrets of its past.

Reviving Lammermoor’s distilling history has never been far from John and Susie Elliot’s minds. Finally, in 2016, they decided the time was right to bring the Lammermoor Distillery back to life.

John built the distillery with materials sourced from the surrounding land, with occasional help from family. He hand milled the station’s trees into planks and designed the building. By 2017 Lammermoor Distillery was operating again. Fully legal this time.

Lammermoor Distillery is the ultimate farm distillery, crafting whisky from paddock to bottle — from grain to glass. Indeed, it is one of the few distilleries to grow its own grain, malt, mash, ferment, distil and mature on site.

The barley is grown on the Station. The peat is dug up from the ground. The Manuka is harvested from the Maniototo. Fresh spring water runs from the hills. And the barrels are sourced from local Central Otago Vineyards. Even the spent grains from the distillery are recycled, feeding a herd of spoilt Berkshire heritage pigs.