R&B Distillers, has announced that it has secured planning permission from Argyll and Bute Council, for its Machrihanish Distillery, the first farm-to-bottle distillery in Campbeltown in over 180 years.
The company which also owns the Isle of Raasay Distillery, purchased the Dhurrie Farm in Machrihanish in 2021, will now work with various stakeholders around environmental guidelines and other conditions before beginning construction on the site next year.
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| David Nicol, Co-Founder of Caskshare - Norman Gillies, Operations Director of R&B Distillers - William Dobbie, Managing Director of R&B Distillers and Alasdair Day, Co-Founder and Master Distiller at R&B Distillers |
The Machrihanish Distillery, which will eventually include a full visitor experience, shop and tasting room, will predominantly produce unpeated spirit matured in Sherry casks. While different in style of spirit and region of that produced at its Isle of Raasay Distillery, it will exhibit a similar philosophy around provenance, quality and community regeneration.
R&B plans to develop a sustainable net zero distilling model that removes any fossil fuel use from the whisky distilling process, using regenerative, environmentally friendly farming practices and creating greater biodiversity in the surrounding area. Up to 20 new jobs will be created in the region over time, having a positive impact on the local economy.
Commenting on the news, William Dobbie, Managing Director of R&B Distillers, said: “The rubber stamp for the distillery marks a major milestone on our journey in Campbeltown. When the whisky becomes of age our investment will go beyond production, attracting visitors to the region and supporting the local economy in a similar way to our existing distillery on Raasay. We are excited to be making this investment in Campbeltown and supporting the local economy through jobs and visitors. This milestone has particular significance to our family as my father Bill’s family come from Drumlemble, a small village in between Machrihanish and Campbeltown.”
R&B Distillers, has also announced the acquisition of a controlling stake in Caskshare.com, the global eCommerce platform and bottler of single cask spirits. In addition to whisky it plans to add other cask-aged spirits like rum and cognac over time and will initially target markets in Europe and the United States.
Posted by Steve Rush