Food & Drink
Against the grain
Regenerative farming on this family Estate is supporting one of the world’s most sustainable distilleries.
5 January 2024
This article first appeared in our Earth Day 2025 issue of My Green Pod Magazine, published 22 April. Click here to subscribe to our digital edition and get each issue delivered straight to your inbox
The point of an ÖÖD house is for guests to experience seclusion and comfort without being forced to disconnect from the outdoors after a wild day in nature.
It’s a superb idea that makes a lot of sense; after breathing the clean air of forest trails and exploring remote landscapes, nothing jars the senses more than the stark lights and humming air conditioners that await you in most modern accommodation.
In contrast ÖÖDs, the brainchild of brothers Jaak and Andreas Tiik, treasure and nurture your connection with nature, extending it well after the sun has set and your head is heavy on the pillow.
And if, like me, you find nature is a soothing tonic for the senses, an ÖÖD house will probably give you one of the best sleeps of your life.
ÖÖDs offer simple and quiet luxury in offbeat locations – think Mexico’s Mayan jungle, pine forests in Finland and dark spots beneath the Aurora Borealis in Iceland. They thrive in the beauty of their surroundings.
The standout feature is the floor-to-ceiling mirrored facade, which is clear as glass from the inside but reflects the surroundings seamlessly on the outside.
This makes the secret structures invisible to wildlife – perfect for birdwatchers and guaranteed to turn disinterested guests into born again wildlife enthusiasts.
An extra bonus is that the the design provides a panoramic view of the landscape – and when you’re in a location as stunning as we were, this couldn’t be more welcome.
We went to stay in an ÖÖD house on the east coast of Scotland, just behind the stunning Lunan Bay on the secluded Angus coastline.
The dramatic sand dunes stretching down towards the sweeping mile-long sandy beach create a haven for wildlife and nature-lovers; gannets, mergansers, long-tailed ducks, red-throated divers, fulmars, cormorants, shags, five species of tern, three species of geese and eight species of gull can all be spotted in the bay, as well as bottlenose dolphins and even the occasional harbour porpoise.
We visited as a family at the end of October 2024 and were unexpectedly greeted with clear blue skies, glittering water and bright sunshine; we spent most of our days on undisturbed beaches and even had a swim in the bracing North Sea.
Returning home to our ÖÖD was unusual in the sense that the feeling of connection with nature and our surroundings continued well into the night.
There’s no TV or wifi so you get the feeling of camping but with supercharged modern luxuries; soft bedside lamps, a small cooker and fridge, cutlery, crockery, glassware, a coffee machine and thoughtful details like slippers and thick bath robes.
The slippers came in handy for evening trips across the decking to our own private sauna, which was quick to heat and just the right size for two, adding to the charm and romance.
Two chairs and a coffee table, conveniently placed on the decking to show off the views out towards the bay, were too inviting to miss, and screamed to be enjoyed with a coffee, hot chocolate or glass of wine – or even a small whisky from the neighbouring Arbikie distillery.
We took a guided tour of the distillery to find out what makes this whisky so special, and why the local environment that had captured our hearts was so integral to its foundations and success.
Arbikie Estate, the site of our our ÖÖD house in Lunan Bay, is a regenerative farm that has been in the Jones family for four generations.
In 20212 brothers John, Iain and David made the decision to use the farmed produce on their doorstep to create premium and fully traceable spirits, creating one of the world’s most sustainable distilleries in the process.
The distillery’s 1794 Highland Rye Single Grain Scotch Whisky – the first rye Scotch for over 100 years – is a celebration of Arbikie’s field-to-bottle approach. It revives an authentic way of distilling to produce a spirit with a sense of place and a taste of the land and sea that surround the Estate.
The Scotch’s name is a nod to the year the distillery first operated, when distilling was a local craft with a truly local flavour.
All ingredients would have been taken from the farm and its immediate surroundings – the approach Arbikie follows today.
The working farm provides many of the materials required to distil spirits in a low-impact way, yet there is no getting away from the fact that plants need nitrogen to grow.
When used excessively and managed poorly, industrially manufactured nitrogen fertiliser has a negative impact on the quality of our water, air and soils – and is a major source of greenhouse gases.
In order to create spirits in a more sustainable and less polluting way, Arbikie worked with the James Hutton Institute and Abertay University to introduce green peas into the farm’s crop rotation. The peas are able to fix nitrogen into the soil biologically, so the farm doesn’t need to rely on synthetic fertilisers.
After many trials and learnings, the team was also able to find a use for peas in the distillery: they found a way to use these unassuming nitrogen-fixers to produce a 96% ABV neutral spirit.
This spirit has gone on to be sold as a vodka and a gin – both made from 100% green peas – under Arbikie’s Nàdar brand.
The leftover pea protein and spent yeast create a waste product known as pot ale, which can be used to feed animals – once again closing the loop and cementing this gin’s claim to a negative carbon footprint.
There’s no better place to celebrate all that provenance – and get an authentic sense of what it means – than from the comfort of a chair on your own private decking. Even better – draped from head to toe in soft white towelling, outside an ÖÖD overlooking the fields and bay that inspired the sustainable distillery and the world’s first climate-positive spirits.
Regenerative farming on this family Estate is supporting one of the world’s most sustainable distilleries.
The first rye Scotch for over 100 years.
Harnessing the power of peas to create the world’s first climate-positive spirits.
A delicious gin made from peas at the UK’s first climate-positive distillery.
