The Ardnamurchan distillery was founded by independent bottlers Adelphi distillers in 2014, with a view to strengthening the company’s supply of single malt for their house Fascadale brand and for reciprocal trading with other distilleries.

One of Adelphi's co-owners is Donald Houston, the laird of the Ardnamurchan Estate on the peninsula of the same name in Western Scotland. The location was ideal for the company's plans to build a distillery.

Founded: 2014
Stills: 1 Wash 1 Spirit
Capacity: 500,000 Litres
Owners: Adelphi Distillery Ltd

Laudably, the Ardnamurchan distillery has a commitment to green technology and sustainability, with a biomass boiler burning wood from the local forest and a hydroelectric generator in the nearby river which also supplies the necessary cooling water.

Ardnamurchan is a small operation, with a maximum production capacity of around 500,000 litres per annum. Fermentation times are relatively long at a minimum of 72 hours. Ardnamurchan makes both peated and unpeated single malt whisky; the peated spirit is at 30ppm, relatively high by Highland standards.

Ardnamurchan began releasing work-in-progress spirits in 2016, doubled production to 400,000 litres per annum in 2018 and released its first single malt whisky, AD/09.20:01, a mix of both peated and unpeated spirit matured in both ex-bourbon and ex-sherry casks, at the end of 2020.

Reception of Ardnamurchan's general release and single cask whiskies has been little short of sensational, with rave reviews from various respected critics leading new releases to sell out almost as soon as they hit the shelves. The quality and character of Ardnamurchan's single malt whisky, even at this very early stage, gives us great hope for the future and we really can't wait to see how Ardnamurchan's whisky will taste when it has had a decade or two to mature.