Arran’s classic whisky style is unpeated, but the distillery at Lochranza distills a small amount of peated malt each year for its Machrie Moor expression. However, with the opening of Lagg distillery on the southern side of the island, all production of peated whisky will be transferred to this new facility. Lagg will specialize in heavily peated whisky, using barley with a phenol content of 50ppm. The distillery plans to experiment with peat sourced from across Scotland—and potentially from other parts of the world—to explore how different peat terroirs affect the whisky’s flavor.
Lagg will also experiment with different yeast strains and barley varieties, allowing for further innovation in the production process. Despite its experimental nature, the distillery will be a significant operation, with an annual production capacity of 500,000 liters of spirit.
In addition to whisky, Lagg will produce its own cider and apple brandy, opting not to follow the broader Scottish distillery trend of producing gin. To support this, 140 apple trees have been planted on the surrounding estate.
Before Arran distillery started production in 1995, there hadn’t been a legal distillery on the island since 1837. While Arran’s first distillery opened during a downturn for the Scotch whisky industry, Lagg is being built during a period of growth and expansion.
In 2017, groundwork for Lagg began, 22 years after Arran distillery opened. Phase one involved the construction of three new warehouses to provide maturation facilities for both distilleries, followed by the build of the distillery itself, which started in November 2017. The first spirit cut at Lagg was made on March 19, 2019, at 14:35, and the first cask was filled on April 10, 2019—a Sherry butt reserved exclusively for members of the Lagg Cask Society. The visitor center is expected to open in summer 2019.
