Max McFarlane, whisky maker at Edrington for over 25 years, has joined the Ardgowan Distillery in his home town of Inverkip.
McFarlane was previously responsible for maintaining quality and consistency, working with iconic brands like Famous Grouse, Cutty Sark, Bunnahabhain, Tamdhu and Highland Park.
Max will now help the forthcoming Ardgowan distillery to develop its spirit and deliver a series of new whiskies this autumn.
The Ardgowan project has received planning permission to build a 1 million litre capacity distillery on the Ardgowan Estate, some 30 miles west of Glasgow. In the meantime however, McFarlane is already working on the development of new whiskies to be launched later this year.
”Our first whisky will be released in and around Inverclyde this autumn, and it will be the first of a series of affordable and accessible quality whiskies which we will issue in the years ahead,” says Max.
Although details of the range remain scarce at present, it has been confirmed that there will be a single malt, a blended malt and a grain.
The industry veteran said ”When I first heard there would be a new distillery in Inverkip I knew immediately that I wanted to be involved. It’s my home town and I have long thought that Inverclyde is a natural area for a distillery.
”It’s en route to the islands, it’s near the sea and I think this will help us to create a coastal lowland malt of real character.
”Of course, this will be a number of years away, but our new series will give us something to enjoy while we wait.”
The Ardgowan brand launched last year with the release of ‘Expedition’, a 20 year old blended malt that contained whisky which had been carried to the south pole by Robert Swan and his team. You can read my review of it here.
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