When Rachel Barrie was a child, she learnt how to surf in Sandend Bay. On the northeast coast of Scotland. In the North Sea.

“Oh, it was cold, there’s no doubt about that,” she laughs when she sees my incredulous expression. “But you do get a proper swell there. There’s a surf school. They hold surfing championships. It’s just an absolutely beautiful place, and the only place I know of in Scotland where there’s a distillery right on – or almost right on – a surf beach.”