Isle of Harris Distillery announces first whisky for September

23 September 2023 is the eighth birthday of the Isle of Harris Distillery and it will be the day when the first whisky bottling is released, the Hebridean distillery has now announced. "The Hearach" will be the name of the whisky, named after the Gaelic term for the native people of Harris.

Seven bottles of the whisky were already bottled by hand on 24 May 2023 at a meeting of the seven members of the distillery's founding staff. Meanwhile, 40 full-time employees work for the Isle of Harris Distillery, which has already become very popular with their Isle of Harris Gin .

The first official dram of the new whisky will also be poured at a private event: on 22 September 2023 at 1pm BST, a livestream of this event has been announced. In the evening, the people of Harris are then invited to a celebration with music and dancing at the Community Centre, where The Hearach will of course be served.

The launch of the first Isle of Harris single malt whisky will take place one day later: From 23 September 2023, 10am BST, it will be available in the distillery shop and in the distillery's online shop, afterwards in UK specialist shops and from October internationally.

The design of the bottle, created by Stranger & Stranger, will only  be unveiled with the release in September. As for the whisky itself, the distillery only says it is strongly influenced by its home, the Outer Hebrides, and shows complexity and character.

Image: Isle of Harris Distillery