In 18th century Scotland, the Crown's Excise Officers — known as Gaugers — were tasked with measuring illicit spirit and collecting the King's due. These men walked a treacherous line between law and community, between duty and temptation.
For behind closed doors, in remote Highland glens and hidden stone cellars, a different economy flourished. The gauger who came upon a fine illicit still faced a choice: enforce the law, or accept his share — a bottle of exceptional spirit, pressed quietly into his hands by a distiller who knew the value of discretion.
"The gauger who came upon a fine illicit still faced a choice between the law and a dram worth forgetting."H.M. Excise Records, Highland District, c. 1797
We named our company for this tradition: the idea that exceptional whisky has always found its way to those who truly appreciate it — regardless of what the law might say.
"This is the gauger's share: earned not by right, but by silence. A wink. A turned back. A story worth telling over dram after dram. We commend these spirits to those of discerning taste — and appropriate discretion."Gaugers Share Limited · Kirkwall, Orkney · 2025