Arran, despite being an island whisky, began as a non-smoky “Highland-style” malt rather than a peated one. The distillery’s layout reflects its modern origins, with an efficient single-tier design housing a small semi-lauter mash tun, wooden washbacks, and two pairs of compact stills.
Arran’s whisky profile is light and citrus-forward, with a touch of cereal-like crunch. Its commitment to high-quality cask selection has enabled the production of single malts well-suited for long maturation. In recent years, Arran has also introduced peated expressions.
Although the current distillery began production in 1995, whisky-making on Arran has deep roots. Historically, farmers in the island’s fertile southern regions had abundant resources for distillation. When small stills were outlawed in the late 18th century, illicit production thrived, fueled by strong links to Glasgow. A legal distillery operated at Lagg from 1825 to 1837, but after its closure, Arran’s whisky heritage seemed lost.
This changed in 1995 when Harold Currie, a former Chivas Bros MD, led a consortium to establish a new distillery at Lochranza in the island’s north, chosen for its reliable water source and tourism potential. Today, the distillery welcomes over 60,000 visitors annually.
In its early years, Arran generated cash by selling casks to private buyers, but this approach limited its stock for branding and growth. The first bottling, a three-year-old limited edition, was released in 1998, and the range has since expanded, including the peated “Machrie Moor” expression.
In 2017, Arran doubled its production capacity to 1.2 million liters annually by adding another wash and spirit still, while enhancing its visitor experience with a new tasting room and Rowan House, which features a tasting bar, blending room, and meeting space.
In 2019, the parent company, Isle of Arran Distillers, opened a second distillery at Lagg in the island’s south. Alongside this, Arran revamped its branding with modern packaging and introduced new core expressions like Barrel Reserve and The Bodega, a Sherry cask-matured whisky.
