Against Reason
Have you ever dreamed of setting up your owndistillery? Creating your own malt whisky from scratch? Awonderful, noble, romantic idea, but "between the idea andthe reality" - as T.S.Eliot reminds us - "falls theshadow".
The shadow of cost, obviously. The capital outlay for even thesmallest distillery operation is enormous (say £1.5 million),and you cannot expect to see any returns from your investmentuntil the spirit is at least three years old - more likely tenyears, if you plan to sell it as mature fillings or as a single.
The shadow of quality. How can you know your product will bebetter than mediocre? What location, equipment, distilling andmaturing practices will be most likely to produce outstandingwhisky?
The shadow of sales. Who will buy the stuff at the end of theday? The blenders are surely well supplied by existingdistilleries? Reaching the consumer of single malt will demandhuge advertising and marketing expense?
These are just some of the darker shadows which will havepassed over the sunny landscape of Harold Currie's dream tocreate a new single malt whisky. The fact that he has dispelledthem is nothing short of remarkable.
Against ReasonMr Currie is an experienced distiller. He has spent his entireworking life in the industry, and rose to being a Council Memberof the Scotch Whisky Association, Managing Director of ChivasRegal and later of House of Campbell. His bank manager probablythought that he should have known better.
In 1992 a friend with Arran connections suggested the idea ofbuilding a distillery there, having been inspired by a talk givento the Arran Society of Glasgow. His reasons were romanticallysound: Arran was once famous for its whisky; in the late 18thcentury "Arran Water", as it was nicknamed, wasesteemed as highly as the malts of Glenlivet. Illicit distillingwas rife all over the island: there are many tales of heroicbattles with Excise officers, one of whom lies in Kilmorykirkyard to this day following an accidental shooting.
The legislation of the early 1820s which encouraged smugglersto "go legal" - and laid the foundations for the modernwhisky trade - made little impact on the island, however. Theproblems of obtaining good barley in sufficient quantity andshipping whisky to the mainland proved insurmountable. Only onedistillery took out a license - in 1824, at Lagg in thesouth-east of the island. It went bust four years later,struggled on for a further seven years and then disappeared.
Harold Currie was initially sceptical. The climate was ofclosure, not opening distilleries: in 1993 United Distillers hadclosed four, and Whyte & Mackay were to close a further fourtwo years later. The natural advantages of the island - itsinteresting location on the edge of the Highlands, mid-waybetween Lowland Ayrshire, Campbeltown and Islay (what regionalcharacter would the whisky have?); the excellence of its water;the fact it is a major tourist destination - were surelyoutweighed by transport problems.
But the seed was sewn. Distillery closures were surely aresponse to the contracting market for blended whisky,particularly at home and in the U.S.; demand at the top end,single malt sector was increasing annually. Family and friendswere prepared to invest in the project [in fact the entire costof building the distillery - some £1.2 million - was found bythese investors].
Harold Currie and his sons, Andrew and Paul, who joined him inthe venture, then came up with a novel idea for raising workingcapital and financing initial production: this was to issue"Founder's Bonds". For a single payment of £450,investors secured five cases of Lochranza blended whisky in 1998and five cases of Isle of Arran single malt in 2001, duty(currently at about £80 per case) to be paid when the whiskyleaves the distillery. In the eighteen months the offer was open,Arran Distillery Ltd sold out of its 2,500 available bonds.
QualityAssuranceHarold looked at eight sites before he found the perfectsource of water, soft and cold and running straight off thehills: the Eason Biorach [literally the "Sharp River"],which rises from a spring in the mountainous north of the island,flows through peat and over red granite, and reaches the sea atLochranza. Gordon Mitchell, the distillery manager describes it,with typical understatement, as "nice sweet water".
Lochranza is perhaps the prettiest village on Arran. No morethan a scattering of houses on the southern side of a deep bay,with steep hills all around and a picturesque ruined castle inits midst. The distillery itself stands some distance from thevillage, above and to the east of it, commanding fine views ofthe bay. It has been built from scratch, tastefully designed tofit its site and purpose, with harled walls, slate roofs andcopper pagodas. The whole effect is neat and compact.
In his "search for the perfect dram" Harold Curriehas favoured the traditional. His four washbacks, are of Oregonpine, made by Browns of Dufftown, as are the feints and spiritsreceivers. His two stills are small (7,100 litres in the washstill; 4,300 litres the spirit still) and "onion"shaped, with unusually tall necks (16 feet). They aresteam-heated by plates and were also made on Speyside, byForsyths of Rothes. The two warehouses are adjacent to thedistillery. Like everything else, they are traditional in style -low, earth-floored, slate-roofed - to take full advantage ofLochranza's damp, windy climate.
They rack four high and hold about 1200 casks each. Thedistillery is filling a variety of casks - butts, hogsheads andAmerican barrels - to monitor maturation, and has a well-informedwood policy.
Malted barley comes from the Laich o'Moray, and is onlyslightly peated. The distillery uses 25 tonnes a week, and thisis shipped in, ready ground, weekly. It produces about 10,000litres of alcohol. Gordon Mitchell, the distillery manager, is aMontrose man - indeed, he once managed Lochside Distillery there,before moving to the Republic of Ireland, where he managed CooleyDistillery. He has a staff of only four, augmented by the folkwho run the Visitors Centre, which will open next year. Sales andmarketing, commercial and financial matters, are master-minded byHarold Currie's sons, Andrew and Paul, from offices in Mauchline,Ayrshire, and Henley-on-Thames.
By the early summer last year everything was in place to gointo production, and of course, in spite of every care havingbeen taken to ensure high quality spirit, nobody could tell whatit would be like.
In June a trial run was done. Jim Murray, the whisky writer,and Jimmy Lang, retired Chief Blender with Chivas Bros. were onhand to nose the new make distillate. Their verdict was:"Quite superb - full of dovetailing complexity and farbetter than a brand new spirit had any right to be"(Murray); Very well balanced in favourable aromas, and morerobust than expected...a delicate pepperiness...sweetness...youare off to a flying start" (Lang). We agree with them. Whenwe tasted the new make at The Vaults early this year, theapproval was unanimous and enthusiastic: sweet and full-bodied,with the desirable malt notes which will transform well duringmaturation; no trace of feints or off-notes; unusually good.
Arran Distillery opened formally on 17th August 1995. Theopening was attended by almost 1000 people, most of whom had madethe sea passage to the island specifically for the occasion. Thesubsequent support for the venture has been overwhelming: HaroldCurrie receives daily applications for shares and bonds - neitherof which are available - and letters from all over the worldexpressing interest in the new malt.
It has demanded experience and good judgement to create thisnew malt whisky. It has also required courage and the support offamily and friends. Harold Currie, and everyone else involved inthe project, deserve our congratulations: against the odds, ifthey will pardon the pun, they have made "a dram cometrue".
Charles Maclean
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