What are the 3 whiskies you MUST try before you die? John speaks to Ardnamurchan Distillery’s Connal Mackenzie to uncover his ultimate bucket-list drams & explore Scotland’s wild west coast of whisky. Perched on the rugged Ardnamurchan Peninsula – Scotland’s westernmost mainland point – this distillery is crafting some of the most exciting, sustainable and character-rich Scotch whisky in the world today. Connal, who had to go to New Zealand to enter the whisky business, descirbes how independent bottler Adelphiestablished Ardnamurchan, the secrets behind their signature spirit profile, & how they balance peated & unpeated styles.

“We didn’t want to make a pretty whisky,” says Connal Mackenzie, Sales Director for Ardnamurchan Distillery, on the far West Coast of Scotland. “We wanted to create a true Highland style of whisky. Not fully blown peated, but there certainly, and a suggestion of a bit more.

“We wanted it to be rugged… We wanted to have lots of character; weight; palate weight; and an oily, viscous style.”

Connal’s speaking to John from Inverness as Storm Boelo batters parts of Scotland.

It’s the second named storm of the autumn, and Ardnamurchan – “on the sandwich of the peninsula between Islay, Skye and the Isle of Mull… as far west as you possibly can get on the mainland of Scotland” – is bearing the brunt.

There’s no electricity and, Connal says, “We have no lights on anywhere on the peninsula.”

This is not the first time production has been halted because there’s no power.

A year ago, when Storm Amy struck, Ardnamurchan had no power for nine days. The distillery was forced to shut down again. Except this time their wash – “the beer that you make before you distil” – was still in the washback.

Nevertheless, the wash was eventually turned to spirit and casked.

But, Connal admits, “we got the warehouse team to mark the casks ‘Storm Amy’… because we have no idea how that whisky is going to taste because it was unprecedented fermentation times for us.”

This is whisky production in the “wild west” of Scotland. In one of Scotland’s newest distilleries.

Ardnamurchan’s been famous for its rugged beauty for centuries. But Ardnamurchan Distillery was only established in 2014. So its spirit is now approaching 12-years-old. But, Connal says, “we’re seeing some nice fruits of labour coming through now.”

And there are some new releases. A 10-year-old that will be released just before Christmas and two variations of 6,000 bottles each using “heritage barley” out now. One is matured in ex-Bourbon casks; the other in ex-sherry casks.

People don’t speak enough about barley, Connal suggests. Most distilleries, he says, use commercial barley. But there are other barley varieties out there such as Golden Promise “which was put on the map by Macallan back in the 70s”.

This “heritage” variety “was really known,” he continues, “for its oily, viscous texture in the mid-palate. It’s a bit more expensive to use and it yields a lot less than a commercially available malt would do.”

Special maturations aside, Ardnamurchan “as a new brand”, Connal says, is “sort of hitting our stride a wee bit now.” And it’s establishing markets in Japan, the US, Germany, Greece and Cyprus.

Right now their International Sales Manager, American Carl Crafts, is in Tennessee on tour appropriately called “Ardnamerica”.

It’s all part of establishing on a new distillery in a global market.

Join John as he talks to Connal about Ardnamurchan Distillery; its place in the Scotch whisky landscape; the distilleries he most admires; and three must drink whiskies you must try before you die.

Slàinte!

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Socials: @C2GWhisky | @JohnRossBeattie

Creator & producer: David Holmes

Art work & design: Jess Robertson

Music: Water of Life (Never Going Home)

Vocals: Andrea Cunningham

Guitars: John Beattie

Bass: Alasdair Vann

Drums: Alan Hamilton

Bagpipes: Calum McColl

Accordion: Gary Innes

Music & Lyrics: Andrea Cunningham & John Beattie

Recorded & mixed by Murray Collier at La Chunky Studios, Glasgow, Scotland

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