A Scots distillery is looking to boost its output with the completion of its stillhouse extension.
New wash and spirit stills have been installed at the Kilchoman Distillery, based at Rockside Farm, on the Isle of Islay.
The investment amounts to almost an entirely new distillery in itself however the team wanted to ensure that the new equipment was a mirror image of the original stillhouse and
Anthony Wills, the managing director and founder of Kilchoman, said: ‘I’m delighted to announce that we’re approaching completion of our stillhouse extension and hope to conclude commissioning within the next few weeks.
‘The new building, extending out from the gable end of our original stillhouse, contains two new stills, a new mashtun and six additional washbacks which will double our capacity to 480,000 LOA, though it remains to be decided what production level we’ll settle at.
‘The stillhouse extension is the latest phase of an expansion that started last year with the completion of our new malt floor and kiln, we hope to complete the final phase; a new visitor centre, shop and café within the next three-four months.
‘we’ve been delighted with the quality of the spirit, with no discernible difference in the character of that produced from the new compared to old stills.
‘At a time when I thought I might take a step back we’ve invested around £6 million in upgrades, that said, without an increase in capacity we would be heading towards a situation where all Kilchoman would be sold purely on allocation. With my three sons heavily involved in the business we want to
continue building on the success of the last 15 years without the risk of running out of whisky.
The new equipment will also allow Kilchoman to experiment more during the malting and peat phases as well as in the stillhouse with yeast varieties and isolating specific spirit runs.
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