I just got a notification that the brand new Abhainnn Dearg Distillery, on the island of Lewis and Harris, has made their very first “spirit”, ‘The Spirit of Lewis‘, available for purchase in the UK; 500 500ml bottlings. Here is my short summary of their announcement – which I have included in its entirety for your reference below.

  • First bottling from Abhainn Dearg
  • First commerical spirit distilled in the Outer Hebredies in 170 years
  • Likely has not matured 3 yrs which is why it’s called a “spirit” and not “Scotch”
  • Available only in the UK, and possibly to mainland Europe by special order, but not the US

*** ANNOUNCEMENT ***
Abhainn Dearg Distillery is proud to announce that the The Spirit of Lewis, New Spirit, is available to buy online in the *UK today! Abhainn Dearg is a new distillery, this is our first sale of ‘The Spirit of Lewis’ and the first bottling of an Outer Hebridean spirit in almost 170 years.

This is a limited release where every bottle has been filled, labeled, corked and sealed by hand. Each bottle is signed by Mark Tayburn, who’s dream it was to build a distillery on Lewis and create a Single Malt, the dream goes on. Thank you all for your continued patience.

Peter Harris, the last Distillery Excise Officer retires this month, he was based in Elgin, convenient for the Speyside Distilleries, soon the team at Regional HQ will be in charge. Although the days of Excisemen patrolling the hills are part of history, it’s still the end of another era. What of this era? Is it to be one where technology creates bulk quantity and in reality well matured whisky is just awakened to run the gauntlet of the bottling plant? CCTV watching over, Big Brother, security for both men and machinery.

As we start our journey we hope to be joined by new distilleries, where wood, barley and water can be seen, touched and tasted. Those distillers who will take the road back to where it began, with a passion for the real dram, produced in Scotland.