Islay distillery Kilchoman enters the 4G era
A new EE mast installed on the west coast of Islay has provided 4G mobile coverage for Kilchoman Distillery in a boost for the whisky producer’s business.
Despite being the fifth-largest Scottish island, some parts of Islay have never had any mobile signal from any operator, according to EE.
Kilchoman’s family-run distillery is situated in one of these signal-free areas, on the west side of the Scottish island.
The new mast, as part of EE’s Shared Rural network measure, has extended 4G mobile connectivity to residents, businesses and visitors in the Islay areas of: Kilchoman, Machrie, Rockside, Aruadh, Ballinaby, Smaull, Braigo, Sanaigmore, Carnduncan, Grainel, Lyrabus, Gruinart and Craigens.
For Kilchoman Distillery, the mast can bring various economic benefits.
General manager Islay Heads explained: “I think people on the mainland take reliable 4G connectivity for granted, but we certainly don’t.
“From a business perspective, our visitors are now able to post reviews and photos before they leave the site, something guests often forgot to do before, as they had to wait until they had a mobile signal.
“We can also now run live presentations and tastings from areas outside the distillery which allows more people to see how our traditional farm distilling process works.”
Founded in 2005, Kilchoman celebrated its 20th anniversary last year, releasing a 20th Anniversary Cask Series to celebrate, as well as a prize draw for a unique bottling of single malt from its first-ever cask.
On Cask Connoisseur’s most popular distillery list for 2025, Kilchoman placed third.
The site operates as one of a few farm distilleries in Scotland and with a grain-to-glass approach where it grows its own barley and maltings on site.
Reiterating the importance of the new mobile signal, Heads said: “It makes our ability to communicate with suppliers and team members much quicker as well.
“In modern business, these sorts of efficiencies are important to our overall success as a local enterprise and international brand.”
A report from connectivity consultancy FarrPoint undertaken from June 2024 found that a single EE mast’s mobile connectivity can deliver between £740,000 (US$989,000) and £1,054,000 (US$1.4m) for rural communities in Scotland over the course of its lifetime.
Including Kilchoman there are nine distilleries currently active on the Islay, which is one of Scotland’s most remote islands. Other distilleries include Ardbeg and Bruichladdich.
Planning for the mast was submitted in 2023, which Nora Killeen, deployment delivery manager at BT, noted the difficulty in implementing due to Islay’s geography.
“Islay is one of Scotland’s most unique places, and it certainly presented us with some unique challenges when it came to making this new mast a reality,” she said.
“We submitted our planning application back in late 2023 and whether it was the raging storms and strong winds in winter, securing the necessary wayleaves for a power supply, or navigating the transport of an entire tower, crane and crew of engineers to Islay via ferry, there have been multiple obstacles to overcome.
“We have always been extremely conscious of respecting the wildlife and ancient ruins dotted across the island too, so [we] spent time carrying out important ecological and archaeological surveys. We even paused the build last summer to allow red-billed choughs – a critically endangered bird species on Islay – the space they needed as part of their nesting season.
“But with the support of our partners at Openreach, Mova and WHP Telecoms, and even more importantly, our ongoing collaboration with the local community and organisations like NatureScot, we’ve been able to make history and finally deliver mobile coverage to this part of Islay for the very first time.”
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