Abhainn Dearg distillery information
Abhainn Dearg (pronounced Aveen Jarraig), meaning “Red River” in Scottish Gaelic, sits at Carnish near Uig on the west coast of the Isle of Lewis, on the Atlantic-facing edge of the Island Whisky region. The distillery was founded in 2008 by Mark Tayburn, bringing legal whisky production back to the Outer Hebrides for the first time since the Shoeburn Distillery closed around 1844. That sets it apart from Scotland’s better-known island distilleries, which sit in the Inner Hebrides rather than the Outer Hebrides: The island of Islay to the south, Jura next door to it, Tobermory on Mull, and Talisker on Skye.
Tayburn built the site on a former salmon hatchery, and some of the original fish pens are still used to breed trout and char, which are released into the surrounding lochs. Rather than buying stills from a conventional supplier, Tayburn designed and built the distillery’s own stills, basing the design on an old illicit still discovered locally. The result is a still house with elongated, angular still heads and thin lyne arms feeding external worm tubs, producing both unpeated and peated spirit.
Since 2015, working with the Mackenzie family of Melbost Farms, Abhainn Dearg has grown and malted all of the barley used in its whisky, kilned using local peat.
The first spirit left the island in 2010, when two small casks of new make were sold, one to importers in Germany and one to a bar in Glasgow. The first single malt, a limited three-year-old, launched in 2011 at the Royal National Mod in Stornoway. Abhainn Dearg released its first 10-year-old single malt in December 2018.
Abhainn Dearg Whisky
- Spirit of Lewis – the distillery’s new make spirit, finished for a few months in sherry oak casks and bottled at 40% ABV. First sold in 2010, and still part of the ongoing range.
- Abhainn Dearg Single Malt (Special Edition) – the distillery’s inaugural single malt, a three-year-old matured in bourbon casks and bottled at 46% ABV. Launched as a 2,011-bottle limited edition at the 2011 Royal National Mod in Stornoway.
- Abhainn Dearg X – the core range ten-year-old single malt, matured in ex-bourbon casks and bottled at 46% ABV. First released in December 2018, it’s the oldest whisky the distillery has produced to date.
- Cask strength bottlings – occasional single-cask, natural strength releases (roughly 56-58% ABV), typically from three-year-old stock, offered through retail partners such as The Whisky Barrel.
Distillery info:
Detail |
Information |
|---|---|
| Name | Abhainn Dearg |
| Region | Island |
| Country | Scotland |
| Logo |  |
| Status | Active |
| Founded | 2008 |
| Water source | Abhainn Dearg |
| Malting floor | Yes |
| Owned by | Mark Tayburn |
| Address |
Abhainn Dearg Distillery |
| Visitor centre | Yes |
| Website | https://www.abhainndearg.co.uk/ |
| https://www.twitter.com/AbhainnDearg | |
| https://www.facebook.com/AbhainnDearg | |
| Map |
Distillery Setup:
Component |
Capacity |
Quantity |
|---|---|---|
| Mash tun | 0.5 tonnes | 2 |
| Washback | 7,500 litres | 2 (Wood) |
| Wash still | 2,112 litres | 1 |
| Spirit Still | 2,057 litres | 1 |
| Expected yearly output in LPA (Litres of pure alcohol) | ? |