Carnoustie distillers successfully pitch moonshine range in unaired Dragons’ Den episode

A Carnoustie distiller made a successful pitch in an unaired episode of the BBC show Dragons’ Den.

Angus Alchemy was invited to take part in the series last year.

The group presented its range of moonshine and ready-to-drink cocktails to the Dragons, and guest Gary Neville, during the recording.

They were one of only a handful of Scottish businesses to pitch successfully on the show across its entire run.

Despite securing an offer in the Den, the pitch was not included in the broadcast series, and the investment did not proceed.

Founder Campbell Archibald said:

“Walking into the Den and pitching Angus Alchemy to the Dragons was an incredible experience.

“To come away having secured an offer was something we were immensely proud of.

“Of course, we were disappointed that the episode wasn’t ultimately broadcast.

“We thought it was a brilliant, funny and engaging pitch and would have loved people to have seen it.”

Angus Alchemy has built a reputation for its small-batch spirits, including its bestselling Honeyberry Moonshine and My Name’5 Doddie MND Banoffee Moonshine.

All of their drinks are produced at their Woodhill distillery.

Campbell revealed to The Courier that out of 80 businesses that are filmed, only 30 are broadcast.

He said:

“We had lots of meetings and then, I guess, for both parties, everybody wanted to do a deal.

“I’m not saying that they do a deal because you’re going to air, but when you don’t air it certainly makes the deal more scrutinised.

“The way it was kind of going, it just didn’t feel right for both parties.

“We’re still friends, we’ll probably still do stuff together, but there’s no official deal we can shout from the rooftops about.

Ex-footballer Gary Neville was particularly impressed with the range.

The TV pundit, who spent 20 years at Manchester United, owns a range of property, hospitality and media companies.

Gary said:

“It was a pleasure to meet the guys.

“I was genuinely impressed by them and their product. I wish them all the best.”

Despite the deal falling through, Campbell remains positive about the future of the business.

He said:

“What we took from the experience was hugely positive.

“We put Angus Alchemy and our products in front of some extremely experienced business people and demonstrated that the brand has genuine commercial potential.

“It has given us even more determination about what we can achieve with Angus Alchemy.

“Although this deal didn’t happen, we do have a few other things in the pipeline that we’re very excited about.”

This article appeared in the Courier on 7 October 2026