• Our History

  • Our History

Our History

Our History

1881 Distillery History

About the Hydro

Hospitality is in our heritage, and the family have been welcoming guests to the hotels since 1868. Peebles Hydro Joined the Crieff Hydro Family of hotels in 2014, and in 2018, The 1881 Distillery was born. Named after the year our Peebles Hydro Home was founded, we’ve channelled the flow of the same mineral-rich spring originally famed for rejuvenating the water treatments to create our ranges of uplifting spirits.

We definitely know how to make people feel at home, which is why we built a gin school and bar right next to the distillery. 26 Mini-stills for you to craft and create your very own bespoke gin, all whilst tasting ours - some ideas are too good to keep to yourself.

1881 Inspiration

Not many hotels are host to a distillery being built upon their Victorian swimming pool, but that didn’t stop our minds from wondering. The idea for the 1881 Distillery came from our history and heritage of tennis. Standing on the steps in front of Peebles hydro, overlooking the old tennis pavilion, reflecting on the days of gin and tonic being a popular tipple on the lawn. Could we use our pavilion to turn our private spring water into Gin?

Our idea quickly grew arms and legs, we swiftly found out that the pavilion was far too small for what we wanted to achieve. Undeterred, we decided to move production into the main hotel. The 1881 Distillery was born – named after the date Peebles Hydropathic Hotel was first opened, and built upon the Victorian swimming pool (Its still beneath the school today)

Land and Location

Our distillery is located in the heart of the Borders, Peebles.

The distillery itself is within Peebles Hydro Hotel, host to ‘Felicity’ our 150l still built right next to our Gin School which is held upon the original Victorian swimming pool. We have a gin shop within the distillery that has all of our editions, glassware and much more to check out.