Lochranza (Arran) Distillery — Islands Single Malt Whisky

Arran Distillery is a Scotch whisky distillery located at Lochranza, on the north end of the Isle of Arran, in the Islands region of Scotland. It was founded in 1995 and is currently owned by Isle of Arran Distillers Ltd. It was the first legal distillery on Arran in over 160 years, reviving a whisky-making tradition on the island that had died out in the 1830s.

History

The distillery was the vision of Harold Currie, a former managing director at Chivas Brothers, who set up Arran Distillers Ltd in 1994 after identifying Lochranza as an ideal site thanks to its pure water source, Loch na Davie, and the cooling waters of the Easan Biorach burn running down to the site. Construction began in 1994 and was famously delayed for a period when a pair of golden eagles built a nest on a nearby cliff, requiring work to pause under species-protection rules. The first spirit ran from the stills in 1995, and the distillery traded at a loss for its first years before turning a profit around 2010, by which point its whisky had built a strong reputation among collectors and independent bottlers. In December 2010 the distillery launched Machrie Moor, its peated expression, broadening the range beyond its traditionally unpeated house style. Harold Currie sold his shares and stepped back from the business in 2003, and the company is today run by managing director Euan Mitchell. In 2019 the company opened a second, sister distillery at Lagg on the south of the island, producing a heavily peated style to complement Lochranza's lighter, fruitier spirit; to distinguish the two sites, the original distillery is now generally marketed simply as "Arran" or "Lochranza".

Quick Facts

• Region: Islands (Isle of Arran)
• Founded: 1995
• Owner: Isle of Arran Distillers Ltd
• Status: Active
• Stills: 2 wash stills, 2 spirit stills

Core Range

Arran's core range centres on its unpeated house style, matured mainly in ex-bourbon and ex-sherry American white oak casks and bottled without chill-filtration or added colouring, typically at 46% ABV. Age-stated single malts have included 10, 12, 14, 18, 21 and 25 Year Old expressions, alongside the non-age-statement Quarter Cask (nicknamed "The Bothy"), Sherry Cask and other cask-finish releases. The peated Machrie Moor bottling, introduced in 2010, sits alongside the classic unpeated range, and the distillery also supplies malt for various blended whiskies.