Based in the west end of the city, Verdant Spirits hopes to produce 400 litres of hand sanitiser starting this week.

The company, along with two other distilleries in Aberdeenshire and the Highlands, were approached by care partnerships asking for their health.

Andrew Mackenzie, owner of Verdant Spirits, found the ingredients needed to create hand sanitizer on the World Health Organisation’s website.

He said: “We put out a Facebook call because we couldn’t track down any hydrogen peroxide and that paid off, so we’ve got that covered. We’ve got 20 litres of glycerine coming which is all we can get, because they’re rationing.”

Mr MacKenzie said the complicated part of the new project was that as a distillery, he is still liable to pay duty on the alcohol used in the production of hand sanitiser, the BBC reports. 

He added: “That’s costing £25 per litre we get out the door. It looks like various care communities and surgeries are prepared to pay the £28.30 that it’s going to cost us to produce it, and on the basis if we do get a rebate of the duty, that will go back to them.

“We’re moving ahead positively, but we need to find a solution to the duty issue.”