SCOTLAND’S ‘BABY’ GROWS UP
A tiny, independent distillery has just triumphed over the big
boys to pick up a top industry award. Isle of Arran Distillers
has been voted “Distiller of the Year 2007” in the Icons of
Whisky Awards run by Whisky Magazine.
Senior figures in the whisky industry chose this modern-day
David over the Goliaths of the trade as the best example of
whisky-making in Scotland today. Isle of Arran’s managing
director, Douglas Davidson, was delighted. “ This is
fantastic news. We’ve won awards before, but to have the
top-ranking people in the industry vote us Distiller of the
Year is something very, very special. We’re only a small team
at Arran, but we’re a hardworking one, and this award is
testament to all of the dedicated work that goes on at
Lochranza and at our Stirling HQ”.
Isle of Arran’s story is a remarkable one. Set up in 1995
after a Scotland-wide search to find the purest water brought
geologists to Arran, the distillery was sited in the foothills
of Lochranza. Its commitment to creating high quality products
has produced a number of excellent specialist, award winning
malts and last year it launched its first ten year old single
malt, which won a silver medal at the Oscars of the whisky
world, the International Wines and Spirits Competition.
Common thinking was that no new distillery could flourish
among the premium brands in a crowded market where heritage
and history is critical, but it seems that nobody at Isle of
Arran read the script. Now highly successful, the company has
received top honours in export over the last three years for
bringing the best of Scotland to the rest of the world.
Douglas Davidson sees this latest award as a real
coming-of-age for the company “We have shed the tag of
‘Scotland’s youngest distillery.’ We are no longer a baby. We
have become a full grown adult and we are determined to
continue our focus on becoming a major player in the world of
single malt whisky…and I’ll drink to that!”
Isle of Arran has proven itself to be a real modern-day
success story in one of the country’s most traditional of
industries.
