Our Isle of Arran poetry competition has now closed

Scottish Field and  award-winning whisky producer Isle of Arran Distillers’ competition to find a work of poetry to feature at their new facility in Lagg has closed.

Since our competition launched in August, we’ve had entries from not just Scotland, but from throughout the UK, as well as several from America.

The competition closed on Friday 14 December, and the large number of entries we received are now being compiled, to be put before the judging panel.

The 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.

Corrie Morland, brand manager, said: ‘Isle of Arran Distillers would like to thank everyone who entered the Lagg Poetry Competition. We are delighted that we have had so many entries and are excited to find something unique and inspiring.’

Scottish Field web editor Kenny Smith added: ‘My inbox has regularly received entries over the past few months, and looking through them today, was immediately struck by the quality of them. The judging panel are set for a hard time, when it comes to picking our winner.’

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.

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.

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.