New products from Orkney

Here in the islands, our talented food, drink, and crafts makers could be the answer to all your festive prayers with a huge selection of fabulous handmade products on offer. From jewellery to gin, and whisky to woodwork, you’ll always find something special from Orkney.

Here are just some of our favourite new items from our Creative Orkney and Orkney Food & Drink members. Take a look at give a gift from Orkney this Christmas.

The newest addition to the Orkney Gin Company range is something very special indeed. K-Ola Old Tom sees its award-winning Sule Skerry Gin blended with a handcrafted cola syrup made from roots, citrus, and warming botanicals. Named after Kirkwall’s seafaring mark, ‘K-O’, this gin is subtly sweet and velvety on the palate, perfect for the quieter nights of Christmas in front of the fire.

Orkney’s jewellery makers are always testing their skills with new designs and styles, and Marion Miller is no different. Her latest collection has been made using Mitsuro Hikime, an ancient Japanese technique that sees pieces created using Mitsuro wax first, then cast in metal using the Lost Wax casting method. The practise creates striations in the wax model which comes out beautifully in metal. Marion saw strands of seaweeds in the shapes and decided to perfect the craft for her new Sea Ribbons collection. A number of pieces are available at the moment with more being added all the time.

It wouldn’t be Christmas without a sweet treat or two to enjoy, and these brand-new chocolate brownies from Orkney’s Barony Mill are the perfect way to celebrate the holiday season. Baked for the mill by fellow Birsay business, Jane & Paul’s Orkney Produce, the brownies are made entirely from Orkney’s own stone-ground beremeal without any wheat flour. The result is an indulgent brownie with deep, dark chocolate, and the nutty richness of beremeal. It’s perfect alongside a Christmas morning cuppa. They’ll be available in the run-up to the 25th of December from William Shearer’s Christmas Shop in Kirkwall.

‘Seeing the Light: 40 years of Orkney art’ is a celebration of the work of one of Orkney’s most popular artists, Jane Glue. It shares the highs and lows of carving out an art career in the islands and includes more than 100 quality reproductions of her work. Each artwork is accompanied by text telling the story behind the painting, and Jane even shares some hints and tips for budding artists along the way.

Christmas is all about getting into the festive spirit, and Orkney’s local rum distillery is here to help. J. Gow Rum has just launched its first rum liqueur, Allspice. It’s made using its award-winning Culverin as a base, with allspice berries steeped in it for more than two weeks. The result is a well-balanced spiced liqueur, perfect for adding to hip flasks, cocktails, coffee, hot chocolate, or your Christmas desserts.

Are you on the hunt for the perfect peedie present this Christmas? Local textile artist, Rosalind Johansson, has created these beautiful glasses cases and cosmetic bags, printed with some of her popular designs including the Ring of Brodgar. The cases are Celtic-style, made with cotton, and come with inner wadding to keep your specs safe.

If you plan on overindulging during the Christmas holidays then you might need a cup of something strong to get you going in the mornings. The talented team at Lochside Roasters have you covered with their ’12 brews of Christmas’, a selection box for all the coffee lovers out there. Inside you’ll find a mix of 12 single origin coffees and blends, some bold and chocolatey, others bright and full of seasonal sparkle. They’re all roasted in Orkney and are available as whole bean, cafetière, filter, and espresso.

Michael Sinclair’s latest creations are beautiful bowls hand-turned from Masur birch, a timber which grows in the Baltic countries and comes with distinctive markings. It’s more commonly used in high-end furniture but Michael has been lucky enough to source some larger pieces. He has added shaped details around the rim of the bowls as well as hand-carved feet, before finishing each piece with several coats of oil.

Find out more about Michael's work in our 'Meet the Makers' feature.

This new cask strength release from Highland Park celebrates Orkney’s aromatic heathered peat, the unique local ingredient that gives the distillery’s whiskies their special flavour. Heather is a limited-edition single malt made with 100% Orkney peat-smoked barley, bottled at 63.6%. It has been matured in first-fill European and American sherry-seasoned oak casks and select refill casks, and comes with notes of bonfire smoke, vanilla pods and brandy butter on the nose, and creamy marshmallow and nutty notes of macadamia on the palate.

Browse our Shop Online pages for more products from our talented Taste of Orkney and Creative Orkney members.