Stirling

Type: Distillery and brand

On 28 October 2015, June and Cameron McCann marked their 26th wedding anniversary by distilling their first gin in a still that held just 2.4 litres, according to the producer’s founding account. Their family-founded business now occupies The Old Smiddy, a former blacksmith’s forge below Stirling Castle. Whisky followed: a first mash in October 2023, then a first cask in November, distinct from the company’s Sons of Scotland independent bottlings.[1][3]

What Stirling is known for

An old forge gives Stirling both its home and much of its character. The producer dates The Old Smiddy to 1888: its stone frontage survived the conversion, while the interior was rebuilt as a working distillery. Distilling arrived in an existing building immediately below the castle, rather than in newly constructed premises.[1]

Three strands run through the business: Stirling Gin, Sons of Scotland independent bottlings, and whisky distilled at The Old Smiddy itself. The distinction is straightforward but important when choosing what to read or identifying a bottle. Sons of Scotland is a bottling brand, not a statement that Stirling distilled the whisky inside.[1][3][4]

The family’s working roles are equally distinct. Trade reporting identifies the founders’ son, Hugo McCann, as distiller and their daughter, Elle, as distillery manager. Cameron describes his responsibilities as business development and sales, while June takes a more creative role.[3]

From galleries and festivals to distilling

The McCanns came to distilling through galleries, whisky retail and drinks events. Before making spirits, they ran an art gallery and gift shop in Stirling. Trade reporting also describes their earlier Ealaín Gallery, an art gallery and whisky shop on the banks of Loch Lomond.[1][3]

Cameron helped launch the Stirling Whisky Festival in 2010, and the couple established the Stirling Gin Festival in 2014. Their route to founding the company in 2015 included whisky retail and several years of involvement in drinks events. Production grew out of that experience rather than marking their first encounter with the industry.[3][6]

The producer gives its first gin a precise, personal date: 28 October 2015, the couple’s 26th wedding anniversary. The small still was called Jinty and held 2.4 litres. Flora followed, named after June’s mother; according to the producer, this larger still made 170 bottles in a run.[1]

Jinty and Flora belong to the story of the gin business. Their capacity and bottle yield describe that early work, rather than the equipment used for the later whisky project. Keeping the two chapters distinct makes the progression clear: the company began with gin, then added its own malt spirit years later.[1]

Bringing The Old Smiddy back into use

When the McCanns bought The Old Smiddy in 2017, it was derelict. The producer describes a building without a floor, power or water. Creating a distillery meant rebuilding the interior, not simply moving stills into an otherwise usable room.[1]

The stone frontage remained. Behind it, the working space was created for the new business, giving the building two clearly different histories: the forge visible in its old exterior and the distillery established within. Its 1888 date belongs to the former, not to the founding of Stirling Distillery.[1]

The premises opened to visitors in July 2019, as dated by the trade account. That opening sits between the company’s foundation and first gin batch on one side, and its own whisky production on the other. Stirling was already welcoming visitors several years before its first whisky mash.[1][3]

Production timeline

Stirling’s own whisky

Stirling’s first cask went into a dunnage warehouse on 27 November 2023, according to the producer. The first mash had taken place on 3 October 2023. These are production milestones, not the release of a finished single malt.[1]

The company, visitor operation and independent bottling range were already established before Stirling began making its own whisky. When reading a bottle or announcement, match its date to the activity it describes.[1][3][4]

Under the Scotch Whisky Regulations 2009, Scotch whisky must mature for at least three years in oak casks in Scotland. Stirling’s first single malt is still being prepared, and its release date is not reliably established.[1][8]

The producer reports output of fewer than 20,000 litres a year, checked November 2026. This is its description of annual output, rather than an independently measured total or a figure for installed capacity. The trade description of Stirling as Scotland’s smallest whisky distillery also rests on a company claim, rather than an established comparative ranking.[1][4]

Gin and the bottling business

Stirlingshire nettles and basil sit alongside juniper in Stirling Gin’s recipe. The producer says it uses six botanicals, making gin a continuing part of Stirling’s identity rather than simply the prelude to whisky. Those ingredients describe the gin, not the flavour of the distillery’s malt spirit.[1]

The business also says every bottle is filled and labelled by hand at The Old Smiddy. That gives a concrete picture of its bottling work, which is a separate activity from distillation. A spirit can be handled and bottled in the building without having been made there, a useful distinction when reading about the independent range.[1]

For Sons of Scotland, launched in 2020, read the producer’s name, range name and statement of origin together to identify where the whisky was distilled.[1][3][4]

Why Stirling is described as Lowland

Stirling is covered as a Lowland distillery in the trade account. The regional description has a legal basis: regulation 10 of the Scotch Whisky Regulations 2009 defines the Highland and Lowland boundary, including a section running eastwards in a straight line to the Wallace Monument.[3][7]

The familiar association of Stirling with the gateway to the Highlands concerns the place’s broader geography. Scotch whisky’s protected regional descriptions follow the legal boundary instead. Lowland is therefore useful for locating the distillery within that framework, but it does not, by itself, tell the reader how a particular bottling tastes.[3][7]

The anniversary batch

An anniversary marked with the first gin

June and Cameron McCann marked their 26th wedding anniversary on 28 October 2015 by distilling their first gin on Jinty, a 2.4 litre still, according to the producer. This is the first gin batch in the company’s founding story, separate from the later opening of The Old Smiddy and the whisky production milestones.[1]

Source: Stirling Distillery’s undated Our Story page, https://stirlingdistillery.com/pages/our-story, supplies the anniversary, date, first gin and Jinty details.

Verdict: Documented

Independent corroboration and the earliest known source are not reliably established. The exact date of the last source check is also not reliably established; source inspection is required.[1]

Where to go next

• Lindores Abbey: explore another distillery in the Lowland collection.
• Holyrood: continue with another distillery profile from the same hub.
• The Clydeside Distillery: place Stirling alongside another Lowland distillery account.

Sources

[1] Stirling Distillery. Our Story. Undated producer account; supplied record checked November 2026. https://stirlingdistillery.com/pages/our-story

[3] Scottish Delight. Stirling Distillery: History, Whisky and Visitor Guide. Undated trade account; supplied record checked November 2026. https://www.scottishdelight.com/scottish-whisky/lowland-whisky/stirling-whisky-lowland/

[4] Whisky Clan. Stirling Distillery: History, Whisky Range and Visitor Guide. Undated trade account; supplied record checked November 2026. https://www.whisky-clan.com/post/stirling-distillery-history-whisky-and-visitor-guide

[6] Made By Magazine. Cameron McCann. Undated trade profile; supplied record checked November 2026. https://madebymagazine.com/artisan/cameron-mccann-0894a288

[7] legislation.gov.uk. The Scotch Whisky Regulations 2009, SI 2009/2890, regulation 10. 2009; supplied record checked November 2026. https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2009/2890/regulation/10

[8] legislation.gov.uk. The Scotch Whisky Regulations 2009, SI 2009/2890, regulation 3. 2009; supplied record checked November 2026. https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2009/2890/regulation/3

This desk-researched draft uses the supplied fact sheet and source descriptions; no new source inspection, visit or tasting was undertaken.

Last checked: November 2026