Ardgowan Distillery fills first whisky cask
After eight years of planning and construction, Ardgowan Distillery in Inverkip, Scotland, filled its first cask and opened its doors to the public last Friday (20 June 2025).
Founded in 2017 by Roland Grain, independent Ardgowan Distillery Company officially opened its doors after construction concluded earlier this month. The ground for the £20 million (US$24.6m) site was broken in November 2023.
Ardgowan is said to be the first new distillery to open in Inverclyde for more than a century. The last distillery to operate in the region was destroyed in the Greenock Blitz on 7 May 1941.
The distillery aims to produce ‘top-quality whisky’ by championing carbon neutrality.
Led by Grain and distillery manager Laura Davies, Ardgowan’s staff have a combined experience of more than seventy years in the whisky industry.
With sustainability at the centre of the distillery’s construction, Ardgowan boasts a Scandinavian longhouse design, a 97% recycled aluminium roof, and utilises green technologies, including thermal vapour recompression (TVR), which recycles heat waste.
The distillery has already invested ‘million of pounds’ in casks, which have been seasoned for three years with Spanish Sherry. The casks are intended for maturation periods of 18 years or more.
Grain commented: “After a lengthy build, the team and I are thrilled to now be in full production and filling casks with our own distillate, including private casks for our Clan Ardgowan members. Ardgowan’s ultimate goal is to revive the golden age of Scotch whisky with long Sherry cask maturation in European oak.
“Our commitment to quality is demonstrated by investing millions of pounds in our signature Infinity Casks years before the distillery was built. These bespoke oak casks were created exclusively by renowned Bodegas Miguel
“Producing whisky is all about time and patience, so, as we fill our first casks and open the site to the public, we look forward to steadily perfecting our single malt in the years to come.”
The visitor centre at Ardgowan Distillery will open later this summer.
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