Ardross Distillery — Highland Single Malt Whisky

Ardross Distillery is a Scotch whisky distillery located near Alness, in the Highland region of Scotland. It was founded in 2019 and is currently owned by Greenwood Distillers. The distillery was built into the ruins of a 19th-century farmstead beside Loch Dubh, and produces both Highland single malt Scotch whisky and gin.

History

Ardross Distillery takes its name from the small settlement of Ardross in Ross-shire, in the Highland council area, a few miles north of Alness. The site was converted from a derelict 19th-century farm steading, known locally as Mains of Ardross, into a purpose-built distillery, drawing its process water from the adjacent Loch Dubh. Established in 2019 under the ownership of Greenwood Distillers, a privately held spirits group with interests across whisky, gin, Armagnac, bourbon, mezcal and rum, Ardross is one of the newer wave of independent Highland distilleries built on former agricultural land rather than an existing historic site.

Production centres on long fermentations of around 120 hours in Douglas fir washbacks using unpeated Scottish malted barley, with peated malt available for future use. Spirit runs through two copper pot stills, both fitted with reflux balls; the wash still's reflux ball is described by the distillery as an unusual design choice intended to give the new-make spirit added lightness and complexity. New-make spirit is filled into casks sourced from the USA, Spain and Japan for maturation. As is typical for a young distillery, Ardross's first released spirit was a gin, named Theodore in reference to the Pictish kings once associated with the area, while its single malt matures. Early single malt has so far appeared only in very limited form through the distillery's own Loch Dubh Deluxe Collection and Ardross Single Cask Society, aimed at collectors rather than as a standard retail range.

Quick Facts

• Region: Highland, Scotland
• Founded: 2019
• Owner: Greenwood Distillers
• Status: Active
• Stills: Two copper pot stills (one wash still, one spirit still), both fitted with reflux balls

Core Range

Ardross does not yet have an established standard core range of single malt whisky, as the distillery is still relatively new and its spirit remains largely in maturation. Its earliest commercial release was Theodore, a gin produced at the distillery. Limited single malt is released periodically in single-cask form through the Loch Dubh Deluxe Collection and offered to members of the Ardross Single Cask Society; specific bottlings, ages and ABVs vary by release and are not yet standardised into a fixed core range.