Distillery Location
The Ardnamurchan peninsula is a wonderfully remote “finger” of rocky land that stretches out to the furthest westerly point of the UK, just to the north of the Isle of Mull, and south of the Isle of Skye. It is accessed initially by a small ferry, and then by a narrow and twisty single-track road. It is famous for its outstanding and untouched beauty and abundance of natural resources.

The Ardnamurchan Distillery is situated halfway along the peninsula in the small village of Glenbeg. It was designed to both look like a distillery, and also fit in with the surrounding buildings.

The size of the distillery was governed by the width of the road, which is only 3.2 metres at its narrowest point. The largest mash tun that could be transported along the road was 2 tonnes.

The distillery was also designed to enjoy a close, symbiotic relationship with the neighbouring farm and estate.

Renewable energy and full circle distilling
Ardnamurchan is the first distillery in Scotland to rely entirely on locally sourced heat and power. The biomass boiler is supplied with woodchip from surrounding forestry, and the electricity comes from a hydro-electric generator on the river which also supplies its cooling water.

All co-products from the mash and distillation are passed back to the farm for cattle feed and fertiliser.

The company also operates a wider circle approach to its distilling and bottling: Adelphi’s main offices and bottling warehouse are located further south in Scotland, in Fife near Edinburgh, and is situated on farmland owned by its Managing Director’s family for over 400 years. It makes full use of this relationship by directly contracting the farmer to grow barley for the distillery. After distillation and maturation in Ardnamurchan, the final whisky will return to Fife for bottling and global dispatch.

Distilling at Ardnamurchan
Adelphi designed Ardnamurchan to produce a full flavoured malt true to its region (West Highland). It produces an unpeated spirit and a peated spirit.

The 2 tonne semi-lauter mash is operated with very little raking (only a slight turn to allow for good oil retention). The wort is recycled until fully clear and then moved to one of 4 wooden washbacks or 3 stainless steel. The wooden washbacks are designed to retain a more constant heat in the winter.

2 types of distiller's yeast are used for the unpeated: Anchor and Fermentis; and just Anchor is used for the peated.

10,000 litres of wash is then passed to the 10,000 litre wash still and from there to the 6000 litre spirit still. The cut is relatively short for peated, and a little longer for unpeated, but run incredibly slowly in both cases.

The spirit is then moved to the maturation warehouses and filled into ex-Bourbon barrels from Old Forrester, and ex-Sherry hogsheads and butts supplied from Spain. Warehouse no. 1 is built into the hillside on 2 levels, with the lower level retaining moisture and a constant cool temperature year-round, and the upper-level fluctuating in temperature and far drier. The former is best for long term maturation, while the latter accelerates maturation.

Ardnamurchan produced around 180,000 litres of alcohol per year for the first 3 years and has now reached its optimal production level of 400,000 litres of alcohol per year. It has employed a further 5 operators and has been operating a 2 shift, 6 day week since May 2018.

The original 2 warehouses are now full, with 3 more built further up the hillside which are filling fast.

Style
The entire process has been designed to create an overall flavour profile that is expected from this area: gentle peat smoke, rich oily/honey and dark fruit palate, chili pepper, sea salt and a little more smoke in the finish.

The first Ardnamurchan Single Malt was released in 2020 and was a combination of both spirit and wood types. The second Ardnamurchan Single Malt was released in the UK early 2021. Both releases sold out within hours of hitting retail shelves.

Adelphi has released its first single cask of Ardnamurchan with more to follow to highlight the individual styles: unpeated, peated, ex-Bourbon, ex-Sherry.

Ardnamurchan Rum Cask Release