ARRAN
| Distillery Opened | Capacity | Malting Floor | Washback Type | Number of Washback | Number of Spirit Stills | Number of Wash Stills |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | 1.2 million litres | / | Oregon Pine | 6 | 4 | / |
Back in the 1800s the Isle of Arran was home to many illegal stills, each producing incredibly good spirit. The original Lagg distillery closed in 1837, being the last legal home of whisky on the island until the opening of Arran Distillery in 1995.
Arran Distillery was founded in 1993 by Harold Currie and by December 1994 work started to build the distillery.
In 1995 whisky production officially started and distillery opened on August 17th.
It was in 1998 that the first cask of Arran Single Malt was opened, after 3 years of maturation: on 25th July, Scottish actor Ewan McGregor celebrated the opening of the first legal whisky on Arran after 160 years.
This same year the first 3 year-old Arran malt was released.
The following 8 years, Arran launched single casks, non-chill filtered, Cognac finish, Marsala finish, Grand Cru Champagne and many others.
After an unofficial launch in 2005, Arran Malt 10 year-old was released for sale in Spring 2006, as well as a couple of new wood finishes.
In 2010, the official Arran 14 year-old was released along with Rowan Tree, three cask finishes and Machrie Moor, bottling of the peated expression od Arran.
A 17 year-old Single Malt Scotch Whisky was released in 2014 as well as Machrie Moor cask strength, two years after the launch of The Eagle and The Devil's Punch Bowl.
Celebrating the 21st anniversary, a special limited edition was released in 2016; the same year the first ever core range 18 year-old was released.
2016 also comes with the expanding of the Arran distillery, which is improved with two more whisky stills.
- 1993 Harold Currie founds Arran distillery
- 1995 Arran Distillery officially opens on August 17th and production starts
- 1997 Arran Visitor Center is opened in August by Her Majesty The Queen
- 1998 The first cask of Arran Single Malt Scotch Whisky is released, after 3 years of maturation.
- 2002 Single Cask 1995 is launched
- 2004 Cognac finish, Marsala finish, Port finish and Arran First Distillation 1995 are launched
- 2006 After the unofficial launch in 2005, Arran Malt 10 year-old is released in Spring as well as a couple of new finishes
- 2008 The first 12 year-old Arran is released along with four new wood finishes
- 2010 A 14 year-old is released in August and the first bottling of Machrie Moor, peated expression of Arran, is released in December
- 2012 The Eagle and The Devil's Punch Bowl are released
- 2014 Arran Visitor Center is awarded with "Distillery Visitor Center of the Year", price won again in 2015
- 2015 A 18 year-old and The Illicit Stills are released
- 2016 The first ever core range 18 year-old is released and Arran distillery is expanded with two more stills
On August 1997 Arran opened the Visitor Center, inaugurated by Her Majesty The Queen and during the ceremony, two casks were presented to her for Princes William and Harry.
In 2014 the Visitor Center was awarded "Distillery Visitor Experience of the Year".
One year later, the Visitor Center of the Distillery won the same prize for a second time.
Arran Distillery is equipped with a 2.5 ton semi-lauter mash tun with a copper canopy, six Oregon pine washback with an average fermentation of 60 hours and 2+2 stills. After the installation of the additional 2 stills in October 2016, the total distillery capacity is up to 1.2 million litres.
The core products consist of:
- 10 year-old
- 12 year-old cask strength
- 14 year-old
- Robert Burns Malt
- Lochranza Reserve
- 18 year-old
- Machrie Moor
Image source: Arran Official Website.
