Remote Ardnamurchan Distillery releases its first malt whisky

One of Scotland’s newest and greenest distilleries, based in the remote Ardnamurchan peninsular in the Western Highlands, has released its first malt whisky.

The Ardnamurchan Distillery, which is part of independent bottler Adelphi and was completed in 2014, has released its first single malt whisky, a non-chill filtered and naturally coloured whisky bottled at 46.8% ABV, which will be available from 5 October.

The single malt comprises a blend of the distilleries two signature styles, peated and unpeated West Highland whiskies, which have been matured in a mixture of ex-Bourbon and ex-Sherry oak casks (65%/35% respectively). The tasting notes refer to “honeycomb, waxy peel, oyster shells, brine, strawberries with black pepper and bonfire embers”.

The distillery lies 50 miles south west of Fort William in a remote and beautiful peninsular accessed by a single track road, and surrounded by forests and lochs.

Ardnamurchan managing director Alex Bruce said the team had had an “incredible journey” since filling its first spirits into casks six years ago, having built its local team and filled the warehouses with more than 10,000 casks while preparing for national and international distribution.

“We relied on the unique local maturation climate to do the rest, and are really excited by the quality and consistency that has been reached,” he said.

The company has teamed up with Edinburgh based firm arc-net to adopt blockchain technology for its whiskies, which it says provides a fully transparent “diary of each bottle’s journey” along the supply chain from field to bottle. The information can be accessed by the consumer via a QR code on the bottle.

The distillery is powered by a hydro-electric generator in the river which also provides Ardnamurchan’s cooling water, while a biomass boiler that uses wood chips from a local forest provides all the hot water.