Jackton Distillery — Lowland Single Malt Whisky

Jackton Distillery is a Scotch whisky distillery located at Hayhill Road, Jackton, near East Kilbride, South Lanarkshire, in the Lowland region of Scotland. It was founded in 2020 by the Kean family and is currently owned by Raer Scotch Whisky Ltd. One of Scotland's youngest craft distilleries, it is a "grain-to-glass" operation that grows its own barley on the surrounding O'Cathain Farm and is led by one of the country's youngest female distillery managers, Jaynie Kean.

History

Jackton Distillery produced its first new-make spirit on 12 February 2020, laying it down in bonded warehouses on site to mature into Scotch whisky. Situated about eight miles south of Glasgow city centre on the western edge of East Kilbride, the distillery was built as a family venture by property developer James Kean and his relatives, with daughter Jaynie Kean taking a leading role in production and distillery management. While the new-make spirit matured toward the legal minimum three years required for Scotch whisky, the distillery built a reputation with its Raer-branded blended whiskies and its gin and vodka, winning Best Blended Scotch at the Scottish Whisky Awards in both 2022 and 2023. Jackton grows malting barley on its own farmland and has stated plans to add floor maltings, underlining a sustainability focus and local sourcing that has become central to its identity. Distillery tours launched in summer 2024, followed by a bar, shop, and self-catering cottage accommodation, and the site opened its malt house to the public during Glasgow Doors Open Days in 2025. Its first single malt release arrived as the spirit reached maturity, marking what local press described as a "golden age" for the young distillery. By 2025 Jackton was one of twenty-three malt whisky distilleries operating in the Scottish Lowlands, and it was shortlisted for Distillery of the Year and Tourism Destination of the Year at the Scottish Whisky Awards.

Quick Facts

• Region: Lowland, Scotland
• Founded: 2020 (first spirit run 12 February 2020)
• Owner: Raer Scotch Whisky Ltd (Kean family)
• Status: Active
• Stills: 2 traditional copper pot stills (5,000-litre wash still, 2,000-litre spirit still), unpeated production, annual capacity around 250,000–300,000 litres of pure alcohol

Core Range

Jackton's whisky is sold under the Raer brand. The core range centres on Raer Blended Scotch Whisky, including cask-finished expressions such as a Pedro Ximénez sherry-cask finish, alongside the distillery's first Jackton single malt release as stocks reached maturity. New-make spirit is matured in a mix of bourbon, sherry, port, rum, and wine casks. The distillery also produces Something Blue Gin and vodka under its own labels. Specific ABV figures for individual bottlings are not consistently published; core Scotch releases are typically bottled around the standard 40–46% ABV common to the category.