Glen Scotia
Master Distiller
Iain McAlister
Distillery Manager / Master Distiller
Former engineer Iain McAlister has been our esteemed distillery manager for twelve years. Born and bred in Campbeltown, Iain is fiercely proud of the place, its people and its rich whisky heritage.
Iain is responsible for the smooth running of the distillery. He also keeps a close eye on the distillery’s stock, sampling different years, casks and finishes to maintain the highest standards of quality control.
Drawing on his background as an engineer, Iain has developed and enhanced production at Glen Scotia, whilst making sure to preserve the craftsmanship and traditional skills we value. After all, it’s these that continue to influence and shape Glen Scotia’s distinctive house style.
Iain’s favourite dram is the award-winning Glen Scotia Double Cask – which he especially enjoys on a Friday night, when winding down after a busy week.
«Glen Scotia distillery has played a huge part in my recent life. And as someone who is proud to have been born and bred in Campbeltown, the history of both the town and its whisky heritage continues to influence me. It ensures that I, along with the team, am focused on producing only the finest quality whisky, whilst giving all our visitors and guests a trip to remember – after all, it is the whiskiest place I know!»
Our Campbeltown Distillery
One of the first (and last)
As far as Scotch distilleries go, the home of Glen Scotia has a story (and a single malt whisky) for everyone. The Glen Scotia scotch whisky distillery in Campbeltown is one with an illustrious past and irresistible present.
The Glen Scotia distillery is one of the smallest Scotch whisky distilleries but one of the big names in Campbeltown, the former whisky capital of the world.
Our historical distillery still maintains much of its original design dating from the 1830s — including the mash tun, stillroom and dunnage warehouse — so our celebrated heritage and history influence the award winning whisky produced here.
The last century saw turbulent times for Campbeltown whisky distillers, yet our legacy endures.
Our Single Malt Whisky Distillery, Campbeltown
Rich in original features and equipment, the Glen Scotia Distillery in Campbeltown is an evocative and unique place to work and visit for whisky tours. We work hard to maintain the distillery’s historic buildings and whisky making process with care and pride.
To this day, we’re following our distillery founders’ footsteps, distilling scotch using traditional methods to carefully create the unique Campbeltown whisky that we’ve become world-famous for — with maritime roots, a unity of cask finishings, and a harmony of flavours.
But we make more than single malt scotch at the Glen Scotia Distillery. You’ll also find two hives in the courtyard where our resident bees create their delicious honey.
A polestar for both distillers and enthusiasts, the home of our unique Campbeltown single malts has truly stood the test of time, and we love showing visitors around.
Our Whiskies
Glen Scotia produces two styles of whisky – peated and non peated. Our peated whisky is typically made over a period of 6 weeks per year.
Over the years the quality of our whisky has grown, with longer fermentation and vatting of the malted barley, as well as a slower and more careful distillation. But overall the process has remained the same. Although we no longer malt our own barley, we buy in Scottish malted barley to our exact specification in order to maintain the true Glen Scotia character through our distilling process.
Campbeltown’s coveted single malts have become popular globally — an incredible achievement for a town that currently makes up the second smallest whisky region in Scotland.
With a nod to our founders’ sense of innovation and creativity, our distillery produces a range of award-winning malts, festival edition whiskies, and limited edition seasonal single malt expressions.
Our Process
Small Batch Process
Using only malted barley sourced from the east of Scotland, the process of distilling Glen Scotia single malt Scotch whisky is known as small batch processing. The result is a fine selection of single malt whiskies that are gaining a new following worldwide.
The process known as ‘small batch process’ involves the malted barley first being placed in the Mash Tun where two consecutive waters are added over a period of 8 hours. The first water is added at 66 degrees and the second at 72 degrees.
The Wort, as it is known, is placed in the Washbacks at 22 degrees where yeast is added. The Wort remains in the Washbacks for upwards of 70 hours before being moved to the Wash Still for the initial distillation. The first stage distillation lasts for around 9 hours.
The liquid will be taken off from the Wash Still at around 20% ABV The second distillation in the Spirits Still starts around 20 minutes later when the foreshorts are taken off at 74% ABV and this runs down until 71% ABV. At this point we start to take off the pure spirit. This continues all the way down until the spirits reaches 63% ABV. The average spirit strength at this point is 69% ABV. A little water is added and the whisky enters the casks at 63.5% ABV, the casks are then delivered and laid down in the Dunnage warehouse to be aged by the magic of the wood and the unique Campbeltown weather.
Awards
Campbeltown's Gold from The World's Best
Glen Scotia strives to keep the spirit of Campbeltown alive, sending our whiskies across the world while staying true to the classic Campbeltown Malt Whisky style. Our local team and community take pride in their distillery, and we’re delighted to see a resurgence of interest across the globe for our style.
Twice in 2021 Glen Scotia was recognised for its whisky-making abilities, being named the Scottish Whisky Distillery of the Year at the Scottish Whisky Awards, just seven months after being crowned the ‘Best in Show’ at this year’s San Francisco World Spirits Competition for our Glen Scotia 25-Year-Old expression. It is the first time any distillery has won both awards, let alone in the same year.
In 2022, our Victoriana was further named Best Scotch Whisky 2022 at the Online Scotch Whisky Awards 2022, and further Best No Age Statement Whisky 2022 in the World Spirits Competition.
«For a long time Campbeltown was the forgotten whisky region, however, in recent years there has been a real resurgence in interest in the type of whisky we produce here.»
«From the Victorian era until the present day, whisky has always been at the heart of this community. The techniques and craftsmanship that make our whisky so unique have been passed through generations, and I am thankful that we have managed to revive the whisky-making heritage of Campbeltown long after many of its distilleries fell away. «
«Our distillery is small, but this allows us to focus on quality, and it is so humbling to once again be recognised for our craft.»
«To win Best Whisky in the World for our Glen Scotia 25-Year-Old and to now achieve the status of Scottish Whisky Distillery of the Year is beyond anything we imagined 2021 would bring. It has been a good year for Campbeltown whisky but we’re not stopping here. We are witnessing the town’s renaissance and it is truly wonderful.» Iain McAlister