November: Desert Island No More

In the Scotch Whisky scene, a trend has been emerging recently: on the Scottish islands, the so-called Hebrides, we find new distilleries, new bottlings - in short, new life in the Whisky industry – desert island no more! Go island-hopping with us and discover what's happening on the Outer and Inner Hebrides in the subject of Whisky.

The Inner Hebrides include the islands of Islay, Jura, Mull and Skye, all of which we Whisky fans are already familiar with. Talisker, for example, used to stand on a desert island. But the Isle of Skye has gained a new member: Torabhaig is the first new distillery on Skye to produce a Single Malt in 190 years. For the distillery buildings, the independent bottling company Mossburn Distillers rebuilt an old farmhouse. In order to retain the classic charm and history of the place, stones from the nearby ruins of Camus Castle were used. In the Legacy Series, the first few fully matured casks of Torabhaig Single Malt were bottled this year. The first bottling consisted of 100 casks, the second 'Allt Gleann' of only 30 casks.

Between the Isle of Skye and the Scottish mainland lies the small island of Raasay. The island is home to the small Whisky distillery of the same name. Before the first own Whisky by Raasay, which also opened in 2017, could be bottled, the Single Malt 'While We Wait' was sold. To shorten the waiting time the Malt was created in cooperation with a fellow Highland distillery. Last year, the own inaugural release could be celebrated and enjoyed, and since then, new batches of the Island Malt have been introduced to the market regularly.

In the Outer Hebrides, such as Lewis, Harris, Uist or Barra, it is harder to build up a Whisky business. The great distance to the mainland, the wild nature of the environment and the small population make it difficult to set up and run a Whisky distillery and distribute the crafted Whisky. Nevertheless, many local young entrepreneurs are not put off by this and jump on the Whisky boom bandwagon.

Two of them are Kate MacDonald and Jonny Ingledew. Last summer, the couple bought the Nunton Steadings farm on the west coast of Benbecula, the small island between South and North Uist. Whisky had long been produced illegally in Uist, as was common in rural parts of Scotland. But the North Uist distillery is the first truly legal one on the small island. From the former farm, built in the early 18th century, we can currently, until Whisky production can start, enjoy the Small Batch Gin Downpour.

A very different approach was taken for the Isle of Barra distillery. In 2018, the non-profit organisation 'Uisge Beatha nan Eilan Limited' was established. The community enterprise behind the Whisky distillery aims to benefit the local island community. They are currently looking for investors to start construction of the premises soon. The building plans are already in place, the land has been acquired, as has the future water source. In addition, the first casks, which will be filled in the future, have already been sold. In contrast to other new Whisky distilleries, the Isle of Barra Distillery will not make Gin or other interim products. The intention is to concentrate solely on Whisky. Also based on the Isle of Barra - and now it gets a bit complicated – are the Isle of Barra Distillers. Katie and Michael Morrison's company, which already produces and distributes a Gin called Barra Atlantic Gin, plans to build a Whisky distillery on the Island of Barra, as well. When the two distilleries on Barra - which are easily confused by their names - will actually start production and when we can really expect the first Malt is still written in the stars. One thing is certain: something is happening at Barra.

Production and bottling is already in full swing at Abhainn Dearg (pronounced Aveen Jarræk). The first legal Whisky distillery in the Outer Hebrides for almost 200 years is located in Uig on the west coast of the Hebridean island of Lewis in the far north of the Outer Hebrides. Abhainn Dearg is Gaelic for red river. Locals named the river that springs from the Uig hills hundreds of years ago. Hence Abhainn Dearg is also known as Red River Distillery. The very new distillery in the ancient landscape was founded in 2008, followed by the first Single Malt bottling in 2011. By now, production runs entirely regionally in the Outer Hebrides - from barley cultivation on Goathill Farm in Melbost to bottling.

A little further south lies the Isle of Harris distillery, founded in 2015 on the island of the same name. The idea to build a distillery on Harris came from Alexander 'Burr' Bakewell. He has been connected to the island for over 50 years and is keen to do something about the weak local economy and the resulting population loss. In keeping with the spirit of the 'Social Distillery', the team consists only of local residents. Each of the five distillers employed is completely new to the Whisky industry and specially trained to make Harris Whisky. The leftover barley is given to local farmers for their livestock and the community 'Nosing Panel' meets regularly to check the quality of the spirits. The Isle of Harris Whisky 'The Hearach' (Gaelic for a local on Harris) is distilled, matured and bottled entirely on the island. With the Highlands bordering to the east and the wild, open Atlantic to the west, Isle of Harris is one of Scotland's most remote distilleries. While waiting for the first bottling of Hearach, the distillery produces and sells its Isle of Harris Gin.

Outside the Outer and Inner Hebrides, the list of new Scotch Whisky distilleries continues: Saxa Vord on the Shetland Islands, Lagg Distillery on the Isle of Arran, Ardnahoe on the Isle of Islay, ... As you can see, the Island Scotch Whisky market is definitely no more a desert island!