Ardgowan Distillery Company

In March 2023 Ardgowan signed a £100 million deal with Bodegas Miguel Martín for a decades-long supply of European oak Infinity Casks, seasoned with sherry.^2,6,12 Stuart MacPherson, its master of wood and formerly Master of Wood at The Macallan, commissioned the cask design.^2,6,12 The building, modelled on a Scandinavian longhouse, went up from November 2023 on a site that once held a timber yard and made town gas for the estate house.^2,4,5 Laura Davies, now distillery manager, joined the company in 2024 after working under Dr Jim Swan at Penderyn in Wales.^2,4 In April 2025 Roland Grain became chief executive, taking over from co-founder Martin McAdam.^2,6,10

Kate Forbes, Scotland's deputy first minister, formally opened the distillery on 20 June 2025, three days after its first cask was filled.^1,2,3

It has six stainless steel washbacks, the tanks where the wort, or sugary water from the mash, ferments.¹³ McMillan Coppersmiths in Prestonpans made its wash and spirit pot stills.⁴ The wash still's lye pipe slopes down to the condenser, which the distillery says draws richer, fruitier esters, while the spirit still's slopes up for lighter, sweeter qualities.⁴ Hot condensers, which turn the vapour back into spirit, cool it gently, and the distillery says this keeps its character.⁴ The stills can make 1 million litres of pure alcohol a year, with floor space marked out for a second set.¹⁴ In June 2026 the company said that, alongside its usual unpeated spirit, it was reaching its first distillation of heavily peated spirit in June and July.¹

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