Agronomy collaboration picks up national award

An alliance between Orkney researchers and a distillery on Islay has been recognised in the Scotland Food and Drink Excellence Awards.

Academics at the University of the Highlands and Islands’ Agronomy Institute, based at Orkney College UHI, worked with Bruichladdich Distillery to develop a new whisky using Orkney Bere barely. The resulting product, Bruichladdich’s Bere Barley 2008, went on sale in December 2014.

The collaboration between the Orkney Institute and Bruichladdich Distillery picked up the Innovation Award at the 2015 Scotland Food and Drink Excellence Awards.

The winners were announced by broadcaster Kaye Adams at a ceremony at the National Museum for Scotland in Edinburgh on Wednesday, May 27.