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