South Star Spirits was launched in early 2022 as a joint venture between Iain Croucher (founder of independent bottlers North Star Spirits) and his business partners in the proposed new Dál Riata distillery that is due to be built in Campbeltown in the coming years.

South Star’s first releases were launched in tandem with the announcement of the plans for Dál Riata. North Star bottlings have historically been mostly full strength single casks and small batch blended malt whiskies, but the inaugural South Star releases followed a different template, being a trio of unnamed mystery single malts from Speyside, Islay and the Highlands, each bottled from a batch of 10 hogshead casks at 48% rather than cask strength.

The plans for Dál Riata distillery were submitted for approval in February 2022. The distillery will overlook Campbeltown Loch from the Kinloch Road and is projected to have an annual capacity of 850,000 litres per annum. Dál Riata will use locally grown barley from Lochgilphead, the former capital of the ancient Celtic kingdom of Dál Riata after which the distillery is named.