Simon Thompson

Coming Up

Running the whisky bar during school and university holidays at Dornoch Castle Hotel, Dornoch, Scotland, UK gave Simon Thompson an early education in pace, service and whisky poured well. That hotel setting was not just a place of work; it was where the rhythm of the house and the standards of the bar were learned first-hand. Today, those same foundations sit behind his work as co-owner of Dornoch Castle Hotel and founder of Dornoch Distillery (since 2017), a role that connects hospitality with production.

Where They Are Now

The family hotel setting remains central to the distillery’s character, with the bar connection still carrying through into the way the whisky is made. That continuity is visible in the process itself: extra-long fermentation gives microbial action more time before distillation, leaving room for a slower build of complexity rather than a rushed transfer to the still. Cut points are made manually, by smell and taste. Thompson puts it plainly: "We make our cut points based on the sense of smell, sense of taste by whoever's rolling the stills on that particular day." The person at the still is not only reading instruments; they are making sensory decisions in real time, using aroma and flavour as part of the production method. Organic gin is another line at the distillery. Organic Mediterranean Gin is made with an additional still and production setup, and it has become a crowd favourite while winning multiple awards. In production terms, that gives the distillery a second register: a separate setup for a spirit that is built to be bright, lifted and precise. The same practical thinking extends to energy. Thompson has said, "We hope to demonstrate technologies and strategies to achieve a production energy cost that is lower than the best fossil fuel systems, reducing the friction to achieving Net Zero in Single Malt Scotch Whisky production." Tradition and innovation sit together there as working tools, not competing values.

In Their Words “We hope to demonstrate technologies and strategies to achieve a production energy cost that is lower than the best fossil fuel systems, reducing the friction to achieving Net Zero in Single Malt Scotch Whisky production.” “We make our cut points based on the sense of smell, sense of taste by whoever's rolling the stills on that particular day.”

Honors

Organic Mediterranean Gin, produced at Dornoch Distillery with an additional still and production setup, has won multiple awards.