News

Olga is joining us as our Graduate Sales & Marketing Assistant, with Ross working alongside her as Production Assistant. They will be working closely together with the wider team to get our award-winning whisky into bottles before making its way to our customers and stockists across the globe.

As our Graduate Sales & Marketing Assistant, Olga will be collaborating closely with our stockists and customers both locally and internationally, delivering the Ardgowan experience with first-class levels of service.

Olga speaks five languages and has experience working across the globe in jobs utilising her wide range of knowledge – she holds a BA in Advertising Design, a MA in Project Management and MSC in International Tourism and Events Management. You might have seen her previously as a Visitor Experience Colleague at The Clydeside Distillery. Her varied roles have honed her skills in multiple areas such as design, research, coordination, talent development, and quality and process improvement.

Olga enjoys travelling and all things related to whisky. As well as being a member of the Glasgow Whisky Club and the Scotch Malt Whisky Society, she has gained qualifications with the Edinburgh Whisky Academy and is a familiar face at industry events, festivals, and whisky courses.

Ross is joining us as Production Assistant, tasked with every aspect of getting our award-winning whisky bottled.

Ross has a thorough knowledge of the whisky industry having previously worked at both Douglas Laing & Co and The Clydeside Distillery. He also has a wealth of other experience spanning many industries including tourism, hospitality, retail, production, and sales.

As a whisky enthusiast, he has furthered his industry knowledge by gaining qualifications with the Wine & Spirit Education Trust and the Edinburgh Whisky Academy and is currently working towards his BA Hons Degree in Business at the University of West of Scotland.

His passion for the drinks industry spurred him to start The Quaich Podcast as a co-founder, and he can be found chatting about all things whisky over a dram during his annual whisky pilgrimage to Islay or many other whisky events.

Ardgowan’s Production Manager, Nicola Campbell said:

“This is an exciting time for the Company as we continue to develop our current portfolio alongside working towards the opening of our flagship distillery and visitor centre in Inverkip. As our journey towards opening Ardgowan Distillery continues, we are delighted that our team is growing in size to help make our ambitious plans a reality. Olga and Ross have a wealth of valuable experience between them, and we are thrilled to have them on board.”

The second in the Ardgowan Distillery’s Clydebuilt series, Shipwright is a blend of single malts from Speyside and Highland distilleries, wholly matured in first fill Oloroso sherry casks.

It has been created by Ardgowan’s master whisky maker Max McFarlane and has already won a silver medal in the 2021 Scottish Whisky Awards.

Commenting on the IWSC award Ardgowan Distillery Production Manager Nicola Campbell says:

“It is always a thrill to receive an award from a panel of our peers and I think we are now seeing growing interest in the blended malt category. Shipwright’s success is a testament to Max’s skill and we look forward to launching many more award winning whiskies in the months and years ahead.”

Shipwright follows in the successful footsteps of the distillery’s first Clydebuilt release, Coppersmith, which also won a silver medal in the Blended Malt category at the 2020 Scottish Whisky Awards.

 Shipwright is non-chill filtered, non-coloured and has been bottled at 48% ABV.

It retails at £49.99 via the distillery’s online shop.

Here at Ardgowan we are proud to have talented females involved in all aspects of our growing business. As well as our new Distiller Lisa, our Mission Controller Jessica launched our first whisky Expedition and is now working hard on delivering our flagship Distillery, while our Production Manager Nicola works across many aspects of the business as we progress and grow.

Here’s what Lisa and Nicola have to say about working as ‘women in whisky’…

Our Production Manager, Nicola Campbell:

Like Lisa, I also grew up on Islay where there were plenty of women taking on important positions in the industry, but very few in production roles. My own father, grandfather, and great-grandfather worked in whisky, but it wasn’t until I graduated that I started to consider it as a career.

When I began working in the industry I soon realised I had an interest in production which I supplemented with some further studies. The course notes referred to the fictional distillery manager as a male throughout, which only made me more determined to reach my goals!

There have been great leaps made in the last few years with new barriers being broken down such as the first female coppersmiths and coopers beginning their apprenticeships. It’s absolutely fantastic for any prospective ‘women in whisky’ wishing to join the industry to see themselves represented in such far reaching roles

Whisky legends like Dr Kirstie McCallum and Dr Rachel Barrie are huge inspirations to me, having achieved positions at the absolute top of the game, and I am lucky enough to work every day with many amazing businesses with females at the helm.

My advice to any fellow females who want to make the leap into the world of whisky is not to let some outdated opinions put them off joining an exciting and dynamic industry. There is still a way to go, particularly in more physical roles, but it is a really collaborative and supportive field and there are some incredible role models to look up to, right up to the highest level. Don’t let stereotypes of the industry and whisky itself put you off – the modern whisky drinker isn’t trapped by rules and expectations, so don’t let yourself be either!

Although there are many important discussions around ‘women in whisky’ and shaping the future of the industry accordingly, there have been inspirational females climbing the career ladder for longer than you might expect – Lisa and Nicola’s native Islay is where Bessie Williamson became the first female to manage a Scottish distillery during the 20th century.

Beginning her career at the distillery in 1934 as a shorthand typist, Bessie became office manager before taking on responsibility for US distribution and then the distillery itself as its full-time manager. She was named as the Scotch Whisky Association’s American spokesperson in 1961 and toured the States representing our national drink to buyers and distributors.

As Lisa and Nicola embark on Ardgowan’s upcoming trade mission to Miami and New York City, they will be sure to think of Bessie’s trailblazing career while raising a dram to the future females of the industry.

Sláinte!

Mike is a qualified Scottish chartered accountant whose early career began at Bell’s Scotch Whisky in Perth, followed by senior finance and corporate roles at Guinness, United Distillers Europe and Diageo. Keiller joined Morrison Bowmore Distillers as CEO in 2000 and over the next 14 years he helped transform the business from a bulk whisky supplier into a profitable brand-led operation with globally acclaimed spirits including Auchentoshan, Bowmore and Glen Garioch.

After his retirement, he served as a non-executive director with The Last Drop Distillers from 2016 until 2018. Mike will continue as non-executive director at AIM-listed spirits group Distil following his appointment last year.

Ardgowan Distillery CEO Martin McAdam said:

 “Mike is a fantastic guy and it’s great to welcome him as our new chair as we enter a very exciting phase of our business. In the months ahead we will commence the build of our world-leading carbon negative distillery with the goal of producing the very finest premium malt whisky.”

In June 2021 the Ardgowan Distillery confirmed the Inverclyde project would go ahead following new investment of £8.4 million led by principal investor Roland Grain and additional investment from Distil Plc.

Roland, Director of Investments at Ardgowan commented:

“I have already worked with Mike at Distil and he brings huge experience and capability to the company. Mike shares our vision of creating a great carbon negative distillery, a great single malt and building long-lasting customer relationships. We are lucky to be able to access the best professionals in the industry and we will continue to do so to form an all-star team to achieve our goal of making the best and most climate-friendly whisky on this planet. I want to thank Willie for his service and I´m looking forward to continuing work with him in our whisky tasting forum. We are now on track to be operational at the site in 2023.”

In December the Ardgowan Distillery unveiled ambitious new plans for their landmark distillery and visitor centre which will commence construction later this year.

The stunning new design uses low environmental impact composite cladding, timber and steel materials to create a light-filled modern Nordic long hall.

The company has pledged their new distillery will be carbon negative and are working with specialist distillery engineers Briggs of Burton to ensure the flagship building has the latest innovations in energy reduction, heat recovery and carbon capture.

The new distillery will resurrect the name of the Ardgowan Distillery, which was founded in 1896 and located in Baker Street, Greenock. After a few years of whisky production, the distillery was used to make grain spirt and industrial alcohol until it was destroyed in the May Blitz of 1941.

The new flagship venue will be home to Distil’s Blackwoods gin, an established award-winning gin infused with Scottish botanicals.

Plans are now advancing to develop the centre using existing buildings on the site at Bankfoot, near Inverkip, 30 miles west of Glasgow, with Rebecchi Architectural appointed to spearhead the refurbishment.

Race to Zero members are committed to the same overarching goal: reducing emissions across all scopes swiftly and fairly in line with the Paris Agreement, with transparent action plans and robust near-term targets. Together they form the largest alliance of non-state actors committed to achieving net zero emissions by 2050 at the very latest.

The commitments made in the pledge are in line with the Scotch Whisky industry’s Sustainability Strategy which commits to reaching net zero as an industry by 2040 – five years ahead of the Scottish Government’s target and 10 years ahead of the UK Government’s target. The Strategy also includes ambitious targets to drive down environmental impact of the industry in key areas including water use, packaging, and responsible land use.

Alongside the pledge, Ardgowan Distillery has demonstrated its ongoing commitment to sustainability by announcing plans to be carbon negative in its operations by 2024, and partnering with engineering specialists Briggs of Burton to create a modular distillery which is able to adapt as sustainable technology evolves.

Starting this year, Ardgowan will now build a new £400,000 custom gin plant – using existing buildings on the site, 30 miles west of Glasgow – to create a home for Distil’s Blackwoods gin, an established award-winning small batch gin infused with Scottish botanicals. The site will include production facilities and visitor centre.

The first gin will come on stream next year and the facility will create four to five long-term local jobs.

The news follows the announcement in June of an £8.4 million equity investment in the business, led by majority shareholder Roland Grain, which enables Ardgowan to commence construction of their one million litre single malt distillery and visitor centre, due to start production in 2023.

Roland Grain, Director of Investments at Ardgowan Distillery said:

“We are excited that Distil has chosen Ardgowan Distillery as the home for Blackwoods gin. The historical context of the Ardgowan Estate provides the perfect location for this award-winning spirit which is made traditionally using selected Scottish botanicals.

“Once complete this will be more than just a production facility, it will provide an opportunity for visitors to immerse themselves in the world of gin and we plan for this to be integrated fully into the distillery visitor experience at Inverkip.”

Don Goulding, Executive Chairman at Distil said:

“Creating a home for Blackwoods has been a longstanding goal for us to help bring the brand to life, and we believe that Ardgowan is the perfect place to do this.

Our deal with Ardgowan and the Blackwoods facilities will provide the opportunity to add significant growth to the business in both the long and short term by allowing us to accelerate new product development across our existing portfolio as well as creating new brands, driving the business forward into the next stage of development. We very much look forward to kicking off our partnership and working closely with the team on creating both the site and fantastic new liquids that will follow.”

Commenting on the local jobs potential, Roland Grain says:

“We plan to recruit local people, and we will also expand the number of local suppliers that we use. My colleagues are already working with the Inverclyde Community Development Trust and we hope we can continue working with them to provide training opportunities for local people who will become part of the Ardgowan team.

“Our goal is to build a world-class whisky distillery and visitor centre which will attract visitors and bring economic and social benefits to Inverclyde. With this latest announcement we are now well on our way.

“We hope to finalise the final critical part of the funding package over the coming months.”

This year’s tasting was held remotely with a judging panel comprising Billy Abbott, ambassador for The Whisky Exchange, Matt Chambers and Karen Taylor, co‐founders of the Whisky for Everyone blog and chaired by Melita Kiely, editor of The Spirits Business magazine.

To ensure each entry was judged solely on the liquid, each whisky was decanted and shipped anonymously.

“This award underlines the quality of whisky we are able to make – guided by our master whisky maker Max McFarlane,” says distillery CEO Martin McAdam.

“Our very first whisky, Expedition, was awarded a gold medal in the 2019 Scottish Whisky Awards, with Coppersmith scooping silver in the same awards the following year. This now makes it a hat-trick for Ardgowan.

“We now only have a few dozen bottles of Coppersmith available for general sale – that is the nature of limited-edition whisky. After they are sold, we will retain a very limited supply for sale as part of the Clydebuilt Collection and for our distillery opening.

“But the good news is out latest release Shipwright is now available online and we are receiving great feedback from our growing base of fans.

“In the months and years ahead we will be releasing more whiskies in the Clydebuilt series, as well as ultra-limited one-offs in our Discovery series, and we hope for more awards to come,”

“The news of the win comes hot on the heels of our successful fundraising which will see the new distillery at Ardgowan become operational in 2023.

“We intend to bring the skills we have honed during the selection, blending, and bottling of the Clydebuilt whiskies to the Ardgowan single malt production.

“Our chairman Willie Phillips and our master whisky maker Max McFarlane both emphasise the importance of quality in everything we do. While sales of our own single malt is a few years away – our customers will know what to expect when it arrives,” McAdam concludes.