Dumbarton’s Levenbank Distillery, the distilling arm of Loch Lomond Brewery set up by Euan and Fiona MacEachern in 2011, and which recently expanded into spirits production with West Highland Spirits gins and vodka, is now set to become the Lowlands’ newest whisky producer.
“Whisky has been on the cards for many years.” explained company director Fiona MacEachern. “The seed was firmly planted when Euan and I began distilling gin for West Highland Spirits, and whisky was the natural next step for us.
“We’re excited to approach distilling from a brewer’s perspective because whisky is essentially distilled from a high-ABV beer. We will be using some of our much-loved beer recipes to form the basis of our whiskies – something no one else in the industry is really focusing on.”
Levenbank Distillery says that while traditionally, Scotch whisky relies heavily on cask maturation, with wood playing a dominant role in flavour development, at Levenbank it believes “in a threefold partnership, where the new make spirit itself plays a more active role in shaping the final character of the whisky.”
Three backbone spirits will be blended over time to form Levenbank’s signature releases. The distillery will also have a range of single grain whiskies, including a rye expression, crafted from a variety of successful beer recipes, including imperial stouts, barleywines, and wee heavies.
“We want our whisky to be as remarkable as our beers,” said head distiller and company director Euan MacEachern.
“We’re working towards a flagship unaged single malt to be released around 2030/31, with a range of peated and unpeated expressions, including single casks, leading up to our 10-year-old single malt. We also have some really exciting ideas as we experiment with adapting our award-winning beer recipes as the base for distillation.”
The team has already installed their stills and begun filling the first casks, with support from Jack Mayo who has previously worked with Glasgow Distillery and Holyrood Distillery as well as new Sales and Development Manager, George Wotherspoon,
While the distillery will initially share space with the existing brewery, plans are already in motion for a separate distillery and visitor centre near the current site.