Gartbreck returns

A few years ago there was a buzz about a project to start a distillery in Gartbreck on Islay. The venture involved French entrepreneur Jean Donnay, owner of the Glann an Mor distillery in Brittany, and Scottish bottler Hunter Laing. The would-be accomplices, however, did not reach an agreement, and media reports indicated that one was trying to make life difficult for the other at all costs. At least it's business. It ended with Hunter Laing building and operating the Ardnahoe distillery on the Sound of Islay, and Jean Donnay pulling out of plans for whisky production on Islay.

Six years have passed since those events, the Garbreck Distillery project has been completely forgotten and the attention of the community has shifted to Campbeltown, where as many as three new distilleries are expected to come online in the near future, doubling the number of whiskey plants in the region at the same time. Meanwhile, completely unexpectedly, the name Gartbreck appeared again yesterday on the press site of one of the biggest giants in the Scotch whisky market, Chivas Brothers.

Initial reports indicate that the Pernod Ricard-owned Scottish distilling company has purchased a plot of land that includes the Gartbreck farm with the intention of building and operating another whisky distillery there. No details were given about the venture, other than that the new distillery is expected to produce Islay's classic peated whisky. There is also talk of carbon neutrality of the new venture. If any conclusions can be drawn from the graphics presented on this occasion, we will be dealing with a small distillery, based on only two medium-sized alembics. If the new owner of the Gartbreck farm bought from Jean Donnay not only a plot of land, but also preliminary plans to build a distillery - it will be alembics heated by an open fire, the plant will be equipped with wooden fermentation vats, and liquefaction of the distillate will take place in traditional copper coils. According to the original plans, the distillery was to produce about 120,000 liters of alcohol a year, conduct self-maltting of barley, and approx. 20% of the raw material required for production will be sourced locally, from farmers on the island. However, there is no assurance that Chivas Brothers does not have plans of its own, different from what was envisioned by the Jean Donnay and Hunter Laing project. As Chivas assures, details of the new plant will be made public in due course.

Gartbreck is located slightly west of Bowmore, on the shores of Loch Indaal Bay, and the glass wall of the new distillery's alembic hall will overlook the bay and Port Charlotte and Bruichladdich on the other side of it. If Chivas Brothers' plans are implemented, it will be the twelfth operating whisky distillery on this small island in the Inner Hebrides archipelago. There are currently nine in operation, seven of which trace their roots back to the late 18th and early 19th centuries. These include Ardbeg, Lagavulin, Laphroaig, Bowmore, Bruichladdich, Caol Ila and Bunnahabhain. Two younger ones, already established in the 21st century, are Kilchoman and Ardnahoe. Portintruan is under construction, and Port Ellen is also being rebuilt. In the case of the latter, we are dealing not only with its reconstruction of an old, 19th-century distillery, but at the same time the construction of a new, thoroughly modern part of the plant.

Made on the island, the whisky is famous for its strongly peaty, smoky character, and the use of - mostly - local peat, rich in marine elements, gives the whisky a distinctly marine, iodine, sometimes even medicinal character. Until relatively recently, spirits from Bruichladdich and Bunnahabhain distilleries were the exception, but these too have taken up peat whisky production over time, due to its immense popularity among consumers. Bruichladdich has made a name for itself by launching the most smoky whisky brand, Octomore, based on malt smoked to levels of over 100 and sometimes over 300 ppm (parts per million) of peat phenols in the malt used in production. However, both distilleries have not abandoned parallel production of smokeless whisky.

So it looks like Gartbreck faces stiff competition in the battle for consumers' favor, a place in their hearts and a share of their wallets. Chivas Brothers currently owns 12 distilleries, mostly in Speyside, including brands such as Aberlour, Glenlivet and Longmorn. This means that there is no shortage of experience and knowledge of whisky production in the company, so you can rest assured about the success of the new distillery. Even though Gartbreck will be the first distillery in the company's portfolio located on Islay and specializing in peated whisky.


[04.10.2023 / graphic: Chivas Brothers]