Kinlochbervie smoke house couple win Great Taste award
Register for free to read more of the latest local news. It's easy and will only take a moment.
A NORTH-west Sutherland speciality food business has added yet another award to its collection.
Highland Charcuterie and Smoke House Ltd, located at Oldshoremore, has picked up a Great Taste 3-star award 2022 for its wild Highland venison salami with juniper, which is smoked with peat.
The win means Great Taste’s distinctive black and gold logo can now be added to the product’s labelling.
Founded in 1993, Great Taste Awards is the UK’s largest accreditation scheme for speciality food and drink and is organised by the Guild of Fine Food.
Three stars is the top ranking and is only awarded to two per cent of products each year.
Richard and Isabelle Flannery, who founded and run the smoke house, said they were thrilled to have won the award.
“We have dreamt of this moment and are so proud to be adding the iconic black and gold Great Taste logo to our wild Highland venison salami,” said Mr Flannery.
“Being recognised with a Great Taste 3-star means so much to independent producers such as ourselves, as it makes all the hard work and determination worth it.
“Great Taste is the most recognised accolade for taste and quality in the food and drink world, so it really is a big win.”
The award is not the only one achieved by the Flannerys in recent years - in 2018 they scooped golds for four products at the British Cured Meat Awards.
The couple formerly ran the Edrachillis Hotel, Scourie, and in 2004 Mrs Flannery began making charcuterie after finding it was nearly impossible to buy good quality meats.
They used the charcuterie in their hotel restaurant but in winter, when the hotel was closed, sold it at local Christmas markets where it proved very popular.
Highland Charcuterie and Smoke House Ltd was established in 2014 and in 2016 the Flannerys sold their hotel and moved to their present location and started producing a range of products full-time.
They buy all their meat from Highland producers with most of their pork coming from either Gary Imlach at Cliff Top Produce in Caithness or Tessa Dorrian from Elphin. Venison is supplied by Ardgay Game.
Mr Flannery said: “All the meat is seamed cut and hand-trimmed by ourselves. We forage as many of the other ingredients as possible from the local area, such as chanterelles, bog myrtle, black currants, seaweed and wild garlic.”
For more information about Highland Charcuterie visit: www.highlandcharcute.com.
.
