Ardgowan Distillery secures £1m to start construction

The Ardgowan Distillery Company has secured almost £1 million (US$1.3m) from the Scottish Government to begin construction on its new Lowland distillery.

Ardgowan Distillery is scheduled to open in 2020

The Scottish government has awarded the project £982,000 from its Food Processing, Marketing and Co-operation grant scheme, providing “vital capital” for construction costs.

In March this year, the company launched a £17 million (US$22m) fundraising appeal to bring investors on board. The distillery now hopes to break ground on the site next year, with plans for the distillery to be operational by 2020.

Once up and running, the distillery will create six new full-time jobs, as well as up to 15 additional jobs in the visitor centre and retail operations. The Lowland distillery, which received planning permission in March, will be built on the Ardgowan Estate, 30 miles west of Glasgow.

The company will resurrect the Ardgowan Distillery name. Founded in 1896, the original Ardgowan Distillery produced whisky for several years before altering its production to grain spirit and industrial alcohol until its destruction during the May Blitz in 1941.

Martin McAdam, Ardgowan Distillery Company CEO said: “We are extremely grateful to the Scottish Government for their generous support, and to all others who have backed the project so far, especially the local community for their enthusiasm and encouragement.”

This week, the distillery also announced that it would support a father-and-son team trekking to the South Pole.

Robert and Barney Swan aim to become the first people to trek to the South Pole powered solely by renewable energy.

The explorers turned to the distillery to produce a snow melter to give them a constant supply of drinking water.

McAdam said: “At the distillery our team has a very strong background in low carbon innovation, and Robert came to us with a clear challenge – to design and build an effective solar snow melter which would be reliable enough to survive the eight-week expedition.”

He continued: “Our team designed a very simple and robust melter comprising a matt black stainless-steel flask encased in super-strong clear plastic. They’re designed to be strapped on top of Barney and Robert’s sledges so they can capture the maximum heat of the sun as they trek along.”

The distillery have also sent Robert and Barney off with two flasks of 20-year-old single malt, one for the duo to drink on Hogmanay and the other will be brought back to Scotland for a commemorative bottling.

In February this year, the distillery announced the appointment of former Macallan managing director Willie Phillips as company chairman, and ex-Bruichladdich and Diageo veterans Gordon Wright and Michael Egan to the team.

The Lowland distillery will be built on the Ardgowan Estate, 30 miles west of Glasgow