Tourism and identity "vital" to independents says Isle of Arran

By Jo Gilbert

Published: 29 April, 2016

Independent whisky producers Isle of Arran Distillers is preparing to build a new site in response to increasing visitors numbers to the their Lochranza distillery.

The whisky producers on Scotland's west coast has submitted the final application for a proposed second site in response to a record number of visitors coming to the island distillery to see how the spirit is made.

Euan Mitchell, managing direct of Isle of Arran Distillers ltd, said tourism has become is a vital part of building a strong brand.

"Consumer interest in provenance is at an all-time high," he said. "People want their whisky to have a story and they want to be able to trace their dram back to the land where it was distilled. This has always been at the heart of the Arran ethos.

"Interest in Scotch has increased over the past few years due in part to the influence of programmes such as Mad Men with consumers working their way back to the source, as it were, and discovering independent distilleries."

The 18 Year Old Arran Malt The 18 Year Old Arran Malt

Now it their 21^st year, the producers are still competing against whiskys which have hundreds of years of history and development behind them, such as Glenfidditch founded in 1886.

However, Mitchell says they use their size to their advantage.

He explained: "Brand recognition is the main challenge for a young whisky producer, especially when it comes to exports. Territories such as China are already saturated by the bigger distilleries, which can make it harder to attract mainstream consumer attention.

"However, we are an independent distillery, and proudly so. We produce many small-batch spirits throughout the year with limited bottle runs and we recruited brand ambassadors around the world allowing the 'Arran Waters' to travel by word of mouth.

"We have never placed emphasis on quantity over quality and the new site comes as a direct result of increased demand for the Arran Malt from whisky fans all over the world."

The new site will be at Lagg on the south coast of the Isle of Arran.

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