The Bruce Connection
Clackmannan has long been linked with the Bruce family, with King David II granting the lands to his kinsman Sir Robert Bruce in the 14th century.
Our Story
From Clackmannanshire’s distilling roots to our family distillery today.
A passion that grew from the heart
SHOP OUR SPIRITS
EXPLORE OUR AWARDS
A Story Built From The Heart
Long before our family distillery began, Clackmannanshire had already earned its place in Scotland’s distilling story.
From John Jameson’s grave in Alloa to Kennetpans, once one of Scotland’s largest and oldest commercial distilleries, this small county has played a remarkable part in Scotland’s spirit-making heritage. Kilbagie, Carsebridge, the Stein family and the Haigs all form part of that wider story.
Our distillery in Clackmannan sits within that same landscape, close to the Ochil Hills, Clackmannan Tower and the River Forth, where generations of craft, trade and distilling history have left their mark.
This is the ground we stand on: from Scotland’s oldest distilling roots to one of Scotland’s most exciting new distilleries.
The Journey So Far
From Clackmannan’s Bruce family links and Clackmannanshire’s old distilling roots to our own family-run Scottish distillery today, this is the story that brought us here.
Historic Clackmannan
Clackmannan grew as an important old county town, with its tower, Tolbooth and Mercat Cross still connecting the town to centuries of Scottish history.
Distilling Roots
Clackmannanshire’s spirits story runs through Kennetpans, Kilbagie, Alloa and the families who helped shape Scotland’s early distilling industry.
Burns & The Bruce Sword
Lady Catherine Bruce of Clackmannan is remembered for knighting Robert Burns with the sword of Robert Bruce, adding another remarkable story to the town.
Carsebridge, Alloa
Carsebridge Distillery was founded in Alloa in 1799 and operated until 1983, becoming one of Scotland’s important grain whisky distilleries.
A Hobby Becomes A Dream
What started as a hobby grew into a real passion for flavour, distilling and the idea of creating spirits with our own hands.
Heart Of Scotland Begins
Heart of Scotland was incorporated in 2020, with the clock hand and stones in our logo marking the beginning of the journey.
Built By Us
Over time, we converted the outbuilding in our garden into a working distillery, building slowly, carefully and with our own hands.
Our First Batch
Our first batch was distilled, bottled and labelled by us in Clackmannan, marking the start of our own chapter in Scotland’s spirits story.
Awards & Recognition
From mid 2025 onwards, our spirits began earning major recognition, continuing into 2026 with national and international awards.
Bruce Joins The Story
Our 350-litre commercial gin still, rescued from a London gin bar and once named Henry, is now Bruce. Named in honour of Robert the Bruce, he marks the next working heart of our distillery.
The Story Continues
We do not know exactly what comes next, but thank you for being part of our journey and helping our wee family distillery grow.
We do not claim the old distilling legacy as our own,
but we are proud to be making spirits in a county where Scotland’s distilling story began.
♥
Our Distillery
Built Slowly, Over Time & Properly
What began as a hobby grew into a passion for flavour, distilling and building something of our own.
Over time, we converted the outbuilding in our garden into a functional working distillery ourselves, using our own money, practical know-how and a lot of determination between 2020 and 2024.
During that time, we also developed our recipes carefully before producing our first batch in November 2024.
A Real Family Distillery
We are not a contract label, and our spirits are not made elsewhere.
There is no big production team hidden behind the scenes, and no master distiller brought in to run things for us. It is just our family, our stills, and spirits made properly in Clackmannan from start to finish.
Every bottle is distilled, bottled and labelled by us in small batches, with care, patience and pride.
When you choose Heart of Scotland, you are choosing a genuine family-run Scottish distillery — Andy and Gillian, a husband-and-wife team — not just a name on someone else’s spirit.
That hands-on approach has already helped our gin and vodka earn national recognition, including World Gin Awards Gold, Gin Guide Gold, Spirits Guide Vodka Gold and New Distillery of the Year.
Made With Care
Rooted in Place
Clackmannanshire may be Scotland’s smallest county, but its distilling story is anything but small.
From Kennetpans and Kilbagie to Carsebridge in Alloa, this area has played a real part in Scotland’s spirit-making heritage.
Our distillery in Clackmannan is our own chapter in that wider story.
Made With Care and Sustainability
We try to make practical, responsible choices that suit an independent family-run distillery.
Around 80% of our distillery power comes from solar energy, and our cooling water is fully recycled through a closed-loop heat exchanger system. This helps us reduce waste while keeping our process hands-on, small-batch and carefully controlled.
If you’d like to know more about how we make our spirits, visit our Distillery & Process page.
Our Crest & What It Means
Our crest is more than a logo. It brings together our town, our family, our place and the spirits we make by hand in Clackmannan.
Clackmannan Tower sits at the heart of the design, representing the town we call home and its long royal and Bruce family links. The antlers and thistles reflect Scotland’s wild landscape, local heritage and the old hunting grounds around Clackmannan, where we now forage some of the botanicals used in our spirits.
The saltire gives a clear nod to Scotland itself, while the royal crest influence reflects the history, pride and independence woven through the story of Robert the Bruce and Clackmannan. The two rolling waves represent our connection to the sea, including the Blackthorn Scottish Sea Salt we use in each batch, and give a subtle nod to the old stories of Mannan and Manau connected with the Stone of Mannan.
At the centre is the heart — because that is what this distillery was built with. Heart of Scotland was not created by a big production company or an outside team. It was built by us, with care, belief and a lot of hard work.
We like to think every bottle carries a little of that heart and soul: our family, our place, our story and the spirits we make by hand in Clackmannan
Meet Our Stills:
Bruce, Bill, Gill & Co.
Our stills are part of the family story.
Bruce is our 350-litre commercial gin still, originally named Henry and rescued from a gin bar in Clapham before being thrown into a skip during a shop refit. Now renamed Bruce, he marks the next stage of our distillery and gives us room to grow while keeping production hands-on.
Bill and Gill helped us begin, giving us the control to develop our first spirits and refine our recipes.
We also have six smaller stills for testing, recipe development and future gin school sessions: Summer, Robyn and Anthony, named after our children; Jack and Victor, named after Still Game; and Ted, named after the dog.
Together, they tell the story of where we started, what we are building, and why every spirit we make is still shaped by us in Clackmannan.
