Monday, January 04, 2016

A NEW SINGLE MALT IS BORN AT THE ISLE OF HARRIS DISTILLERY

The Isle of Harris Distillery, has announced that it brought in the New Year by celebrating the filling of its very first casks.

The spirit which will eventually become their Hearach single malt, flowed from the distillery’s copper stills just before Christmas, and the 561 litres it produced have now been filled into its first three casks.

Isle of Harris Distillery workers; Domhnall Macleod, Billy Fraser and Donnie Macleod
with the first three filled casks 

The Isle of Harris Distillery based in Tarbert, opened its doors on September 24th 2015, and is the first distillery on the island and the first of significant commercial size in the Outer Hebrides.

During January, Production Manager Kenny Maclean and the distillery team will work to adjust their methods to ensure the ‘new make spirit’ has the character the company is looking for, then will fill the first run of 200 casks – ex Buffalo Trace barrels, which have already been bought by private individuals.

Commenting on the news, Simon Erlanger, Managing Director of the Isle of Harris Distillery, said: “We opened the distillery in late September with what was really a family affair for the whole of the people of Harris including the biggest ceilidh the island has ever seen and now we have even more to celebrate with the production of our first spirit,”
From the outset the distillery has been determined to place itself at the heart of the Harris community and has become known as the Social Distillery. Many of those first 200 casks have been purchased by islanders and will be part of the island’s own story.
The Isle of Harris Distillery, will eventually produce the equivalent of 300,000 bottles a year of its Hearach single malt whisky.
Posted by Steve Rush