Time running out to enter Isle of Arran poetry competition

If you’re wanting to enter our fantastic competition to have your poetry immortalised at the award-winning whisky producer Isle of Arran Distillers’ new facility in Lagg, then time is running out.

The closing date for entries is Friday 14 December, if you want to take part in this unique competition. Scottish Field and Isle of Arran Distillers has teamed up to find the official poem for the new Lagg Distillery.

The winning entry will take pride of place onsite within the Lagg Visitor Centre which is due to open next spring. As well as having their poem immortalised at the Lagg Distillery, the winning entry will be exclusively published in Scottish Field magazine, the official media partner for the competition.

Budding writers have been tasked to produce a poem that beautifully captures the Isle of Arran’s history, landscape or, quite simply, i’s spirit – whisky or otherwise. The winner and two runners up will be announced on Burns Night, Friday 25 January 2019.

The winning poet will also be invited to the official opening of the new Lagg Distillery & Visitor Centre in Spring of next year. Two runners-up will receive an exclusive Lagg Distillery goodie bag.

The Isle of Arran Distillery have assembled an expert judging panel that will mull over each entry. Judges include Hamish Whyte, honorary research fellow in the Department of Scottish Literature at Glasgow University, Jim Carruth, Poet Laureate of Glasgow since 2014, Rachel McCormack, a chef, whisky writer and author of ‘Chasing the Dram’, Kenny Smith, web editor at Scottish Field, Graham Omand, the Lagg Distillery manager, and Faye Waterlow, the Lagg visitor centre manager.

To be in with the chance of being there at the opening of the Lagg Distillery and Visitor Centre, simply enter our poetry competition!

All entries can be submitted to Scottish Field magazine by email to ksmith@scottishfield.co.uk with the subject ‘Isle of Arran Distillers – Poetry Competition’. Entrants will also need to include in their name, contact information and date of birth as this competition is only open to those over the age of 18. All entries must be original work and not have been published anywhere else before.

Poems can also be submitted by post using the following address: Isle of Arran Distillers – Poetry Competition, Scottish Field, 496 Ferry Road, Edinburgh, EH5 2DL. Please within your entry letter your name, your contact information and your date of birth.

There’s also a fantastic opportunity to get a memento from the distillery opening with the release for purchase 700 casks from the first production to be filled at the new distillery. These bourbon casks will contain approximately 280 70cl bottles-worth of a new, heavily-peated (50ppm) Single Malt that will be the style of whisky produced at the Lagg Distillery.

Each of casks, priced at £6000, will remain at the distillery for a minimum of 10 years of maturation under the careful eye of the Lagg Distillery team. The casks’ owners will then have the opportunity to bottle the spirit, complete with a limited-edition Lagg Cask society label, or pay an annual fee to continue the maturation process until the desired age is attained. No further casks will be made available for sale to the public during the first 10 years of production at Lagg.

Every cask owner will also become a member of the exclusive Lagg Cask Society. Membership guarantees a bottle from the very first cask to be filled at Lagg which is reserved exclusively for the Society. In addition, each member will have their name displayed on the Lagg ‘Wall of Fame’ and receive an invite to the Lagg Cask Society Members Day for a first-look of the distillery and visitor centre before its official opening in spring 2019. Additional benefits include a free stay at the historic Lagg Hotel, a 12-month Arran golf pass, complimentary tours of Lagg and 10% off all purchases in the visitor centre for 10 years.

Further information on how to purchase a cask, as well as all of the benefits involved, can be found at www.laggwhisky.com or by contacting info@laggwhisky.com directly.

Scottish Field is part of Wyvex Media Limited. By entering this competition, you agree to Wyvex Media (or the third party company above) contacting you if you are a winner or contacting you about their products and services. If you do not wish to be contacted, you should not enter this/these competitions. Your information will be kept for a period of three months after the competition closes, after which it will be destroyed, unless you agree an extension to be contacted further with Wyvex Media or the third-party company.