Ardnamurchan Distillery

About the distillery

Ardnamurchan Distillery is located in Glenbeg halfway out on the Ardnamurchan peninsula in Scotland’s west Highlands, surrounded by rugged coastal scenery and close to the North Atlantic. It is a modern single malt distillery that combines traditional copper distillation with an unusually light environmental approach. Here, the whisky is about both the maritime character of the place, local resources, and a style that embraces both peated and unpeated spirit.

History

The distillery was established in 2014 and is situated halfway out on the Ardnamurchan peninsula in the small village of Glenbeg. The building was designed to resemble a distillery while also blending in with the surrounding buildings. From the start, production was conceived as more than just whisky: power and heat needs are met by local renewable sources, and co-products are fed back into a cycle across the peninsula. This is also where you find a clear connection between place and identity—particularly in the way the peninsula’s rugged coastal nature and the meaning of the name, “Headland of the Great Seas”, are brought into the distillery’s story. In 2020, the original Single Malt arrived, and later it was used as a springboard for a new annually recurring 10-year edition. In 2025, the new core 10 Year Old was announced as the beginning of a new chapter, while the distillery also marked its local ties with an initiative for clean water and a first open day announced for 2026.

Ingredients and production

Ardnamurchan works with malted barley and produces both peated and unpeated spirit, giving the blending team the flexibility they want. The peated malt is specified to 30 PPM phenols, and the distillery has also made very heavily peated malt at 80 PPM, which is still maturing. The mash is started in a specially designed mash tun, and the supply of hot water is heated by the biomass boiler, which is fired with wood chips from local forestry. Once the wort is ready, it is sent to the washbacks for fermentation; here the distillery uses both wood and stainless steel, with four wooden washbacks and three in stainless steel. Distillation takes place traditionally in copper stills, with a wash still of 10,000 liters and a spirit still of 6,000 liters, and the spirit still has a neck with a boil ball for extra reflux. Condensation happens in shell-and-tube condensers placed outside the building. New make cuts around 75% ABV and are watered down with water from the Glenmore spring to 63.5% ABV before cask filling.

Maturation and cask types

The whisky matures in the distillery’s own dunnage warehouses on the Ardnamurchan peninsula, close to the North Atlantic. The distillery works especially with American and European oak, including ex-bourbon and ex-sherry, but they also experiment with other wood types and previous contents, from white wine to mezcal and Sauternes to Madeira. This allows them to build both the classic West Coast style and to give certain releases a more distinctive finish character—such as in the single cask edition for Marloe Watch Company, where a first-fill American oak hogshead is finished in an ex-Pedro Ximénez sherry hogshead.

Whiskies

The core range is built around AD / Single Malt, AD / Cask Strength Release, AD / Single Cask and AD / Sherry Cask Release, supplemented by Maclean's Nose as a blended Scotch with a clear West Coast profile. In addition, the new 10 Year Old is intended as an annual core release and thereby marks a more mature phase in the distillery’s whisky program. The portfolio shows a producer that wants to deliver a distinct house style while also keeping the door open for more powerful single casks and special cask-influenced releases.

Whisky	Type / series	Alcohol	Age	Cask and style	Taste profile	Status
AD / Single Malt	Single Malt Scotch Whisky				Nose: Orchard fruit, oyster shells, honey and marzipan	Current; Core range
AD / Cask Strength Release	Single Malt Scotch Whisky				Nose: Coastal peat smoke, vanilla and warm black pepper spice	Current; Core range
AD / Single Cask	Single Malt Scotch Whisky				A rarefied whisky experience.	Current; Core range
AD / Sherry Cask Release	Single Malt Scotch Whisky				Nose: Dried fruits and spices and a hint of maritime peat	Current; Core range
Maclean's Nose	Blended Scotch Whisky				A blended Scotch Whisky with a strong West Coast character.	Current; Core range
Ardnamurchan 10 Year Old	Single Malt Scotch Whisky; AD	46.8 %	10 Year Old	Ex-Bourbon barrel and Ex-Sherry hogshead; smoked/peaty	A core 10 Year Old Single Malt Scotch Whisky released annually.; Nose: Coconut, oat biscuits, zesty orange peel, salty sea air, leaves on a bonfire, strawberry laces and mint; Taste: Custard creams, vanilla wafer, brine and earthy smoke; Finish: A lingering, smoky, maritime warmth	Coming; Core range; Available through usual stockists across the UK and internationally; 16380 bottles
Marloe's Ardnamurchan Single Cask - 10 Year	Single Malt Scotch Whisky		10 Year	First-fill American oak hogshead and Ex-Pedro Ximénez sherry hogshead; finish: Ex-Pedro Ximénez sherry hogshead finish; smoked/peaty	A single cask bottled for Marloe Watch Company’s 10th anniversary.; Finish: Coastal smoke and maritime character with dark fruit, oak spice and sherried sweetness	Limited

Whisky style and taste profile

The overall style revolves around fruit, malt, and a distinct maritime character. On one end you find orchard fruit, honey, and marzipan, while other releases lean toward coastal peat smoke, vanilla, and warm black pepper spice. Sherry-influenced versions add dried fruits, spices, and maritime peat to the picture, and the 10-year edition brings it all together in notes of coconut, oat biscuits, zesty orange peel, brine, earthy smoke, and a long, smoky maritime warmth. It results in a whisky profile where sea air, sweetness, and smoke are tightly intertwined.

Visiting the distillery

It is possible to visit the distillery. You can book a guided tour, or simply drop by the well-stocked visitor centre, and there is also a shop on site. Visits are available by booking, and opening hours are Monday to Saturday from 10:00–17:00 and Sunday from 10:00–16:30. The experience is clearly connected to the production itself, so visitors can get close to the way the whisky is made in Glenbeg.

The stated opening times are Monday to Saturday 10:00 - 17:00; Sunday 10:00 - 16:30.
See times and book a visit.

Philosophy and craftsmanship

Ardnamurchan describes its approach as a lightest-touch approach to distilling. Concretely, this means local renewable energy, reusing co-products for animal feed, and a conscious decision to let the production reflect whisky’s natural character. At the same time, the distillery combines heritage and innovation—especially by uniting traditional methods such as double distillation with more modern solutions such as blockchain technology and a strong focus on sustainable operations.

Sustainability

All power and heat requirements come from local renewables.
River-fed cooling water with hydro-electricity generator.
Solar panels provide energy.
Biomass boiler fuelled by wood chip from local forestry.
Draff mixed with pot ale to make animal feed for use on the peninsula.

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