Ardnamurchan to fund education with whisky casks

A Scottish charity is gifting casks of maturing Ardnamurchan Scotch whisky to young people, which can be sold when they turn 18 to help them fund higher education and training programmes.

Ardnamurchan Distillery and the Ardnamurchan Trust will gift a whisky cask to help young people fund their further education and training programmes

The initiative was dreamt up by the Ardnamurchan Trust, a Scottish registered charity, in partnership with Alex Bruce, managing director of Adelphi, which owns the Ardnamurchan Distillery in the rural Highlands of Scotland.

Under the scheme, the Ardnamurchan Trust will buy a cask of Ardnamurchan whisky for every local resident aged between 10 and 17 years old.

When residents reach 18, they will have the option of selling the cask back to the distillery and using the profits to fund further education or support future training and careers.

It is hoped the programme will “encourage diversification” in the region and inspire more businesses to collaborate on projects to support education of the local population.

Furthermore, organisers of the scheme hope the move will incentivise people to return to the area, “addressing the difficult issue of rural depopulation”.

Bruce said: “This scheme will benefit young people in the Ardnamurchan area, who will directly profit from the sale of their local whisky.

“We’ll also be offering additional support by forging further links with the community and local businesses, as well as offering work experience and training throughout all aspects of the business.

“In addition to supporting the next generation from an early age, it also gives us security of an established long-term employment pool in the area.”

Bruce added that the distillery will invite all the young people to partake in practical day courses at the distillery, offering experience in operations and tourism. They will also have the option to gain experience at Adelphi’s main offices to learn about bottling and distribution, as well as sales, marketing and logistics.

Ardnamurchan is one of Scotland’s newer distilleries, and its maturing spirit officially became whisky in August last year.