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New Isle of Arran distillery to open next year

Isle of Arran Distillers’ second distillery is on track for a spring 2019 opening, the Scotch producer has confirmed.

When it opens in 2019, the distillery will produce heavily peated spirit

The Lagg Distillery is being built on the south of the Isle of Arran, and this week workers completed the steelworks that provide the structure of the building.

Construction of the new site began in February 2017. The distillery is based next to fields of barley that provide a portion of the malt currently used in production at the group’s other site, Lochranza.

Euan Mitchell, managing director of Isle of Arran Distillers, said: “It is fantastic to see the vision turning into a reality. With just under a year to go until we plan to open the Lagg Distillery, we’re delighted to confirm that everything is on target to be completed by spring next year.”

Isle of Arran Distillers recently named Graham Omand as the distillery manager for the new site once it opens. Omand is the nephew of Isle of Arran Distillers master distiller, James MacTaggart, and has been working under his guidance at the Lochranza Distillery for more than eight years.

Once the building work is completed, copper pot stills will be installed and the distillery’s first production run will follow shortly after. The Lagg Distillery will produce a heavily peated spirit that will become the flagship Lagg Distillery Single Malt Scotch.

Mitchell said: “The decision to concentrate on heavily peated single malts at the Lagg Distillery comes after the popularity of our Machrie Moor limited edition range. Being able to dedicate the facility to this style of whisky will enable further innovation, becoming a space where we can experiment with different flavours.”

The Scotch producer recently offered 700 casks of its whisky for sale, giving whisky fans the chance to be part of of its exclusive Lagg Cask Society.

When fully operational, the Lagg Distillery will increase Isle of Arran’s production capacity to two million litres. The total visitor numbers to both distillery sites are expected to exceed 200,000 by 2020.

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