A new distillery in Campbeltown?

We have become accustomed to seeing new distilleries being built in Scotland faster than we could give notice of them. However, if news reaches us about plans to build a new distillery in Campbeltown, we can't keep them quiet.

R&B Distillers, owner and operator of the Isle of Raasay distillery, has just announced plans to launch its second distillery. Machrihanish Distillery, as the new venture will be called, will be built on the site of Dhurrie Farm, a few miles from Campbeltown, near the local airport.

The project is still waiting for a positive opinion from the regional authorities. If the decision goes R&B Distillers' way, construction work will begin early next year. The venture is expected to cost between £10 million and £15 million, and when completed will create 20 new jobs at the distillery, which will have an initial maximum capacity of 400,000 liters of pure alcohol per year.

In a news release made available to the media, R&B Distillers announces the preparation of a new whiskey recipe for Machrihanish Distillery, which will be different from that used at Isle of Raasay, will complement the existing distillery's offerings, and will allow the producer to reach new customers. However, the type of whisky profile in question was not revealed.

Tours of the new distillery are to be provided, a Visitor Center is to be prepared, and a whiskey lovers club is to be launched.

No new whisky distillery has been built in Campbeltown for more than 140 years. The last was Glen Nevis, operating in Glebe Street from 1877 to 1923. Four years earlier, in 1873, Glengyle was founded, reactivated in 2004.

In the 19th century, the Campbeltown region boasted the operations of more than 30 distilleries, and was widely considered the whiskey capital of the world. However, the second half of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century brought changes in the market, as a result of which most of the region's distilleries were forced to cease operations. In addition to the global problems of the distilling industry, such as World War I, the global crisis and Prohibition in the US, a formidable competitor has arrived for the Campbeltown region in the form of the booming Speyside region. The rapid growth of rail links to the north of Scotland has meant cheap and reliable transportation of raw materials, fuel and finished products. The importance of Campbeltown, with only a sea connection to Glasgow, began to diminish rather quickly. To make matters worse, the local source of fuel was depleted - around 1923, the nearby Drumlemble coal mine closed, entailing the closure of a dozen distilleries over the next few years.

We can only keep our fingers crossed for the success of the venture, and wait for the first liquid fruits of the new distillery's operations.


[14.02.2022 / photo: R&B Distillers]