Plans to construct the first whisky distillery on Barra are are gathering pace with the launch of a £1.5 million community shares offer.
The proposal means the business will be owned and run by the islanders, but shares can be bought by investors outside the area as well.
Barra is an island with a population of just 1,200 and the community benefit society model means the new firm will be owned by the community, for the community, with any profit made being reinvested back in the community.
The long-term potential benefits include £2m for other local community projects, which would come back to the community through profits made at the distillery in the future.
Peter Brown is the entrepreneur behind the project, along with fellow directors, Neil MacKinnon and architect Malcolm Fraser.
They intend to use water from the local reservoir and barley grown on the islands. It will be driven by renewable power from the reservoir, solar power and wind turbines.
Community Shares Scotland (CSS), which advised Barra Distillery, has previous experience of backing a distillery project.
Douglas Laing’s Rock Oyster is a Small Batch bottling created using maritime Malts including those distilled on the Islands of Jura, Islay, Arran and Orkney.
Bottled at 46.8% ABV and traditionally without colouring or chill-filtration, this Small Batch bottling has a maritime and oceanic character of sea-salt, sweet peat, smoke, honey and pepper.
Says Douglas Laing’s Managing Director Fred Laing, “Rock Oyster showcases the archetypal Island character of gentle peat-smoke, vanilla’d honey and salt. If I could select just one dram to transport the whisky enthusiast to the Islands of Scotland, it would be this one. Rock Oyster will sit proudly alongside our other core regionally themed Vatted Malts – Big Peat from Islay, Scallywag from Speyside and Timorous Beastie from the Highlands – hopefully contributing to Douglas Laing’s continued growth.”
Scottish craft spirits producer, The Glasgow Distillery Company, has announced the launch of a collection of one-off releases of aged Speyside single malts inspired by Greek mythology.The first release in the collection is Prometheus, a 26-year-old Speyside single malt of secret origins that combines the smoky influence of peated barley with the zesty and floral notes typical of this region.
The name was inspired by the classical foundations of Greek Mythology, the great Titans, who were renowned for their strength, passion and charisma. Prometheus was one of the most renowned Titans and is remembered today for his great gift to man: fire.
Today, the spirit of Prometheus lives, say the Glasgow Distillery Company, on as champion of man and bringer of fire in the Prometheus 26-year-old Single Malt Scotch Whisky which combines the peaty fire of the islands with the rich, bright complexity of the Highlands.