Arran distillery information
In the past, the Isle of Arran (60 kilometres south-west of Glasgow, in the Firth of Clyde) was home to over 50 mostly illegal distilleries, and the whisky was popular enough to be nicknamed “Arran water.” Isle of Arran Distillers Ltd brought legal distilling back to the island after more than 150 years, building the Lochranza distillery on the island’s northern side, in a village of around 200 people.
Arran Whiskies
Arran’s water is drawn from Loch na Davie, filtered through peaty soil and granite as it descends toward Lochranza. Whisky is made using non-peated barley (Arran doesn’t operate its own malting floor and buys malt externally), is naturally coloured, and non-chill filtered. Maturation runs across ex-bourbon and ex-sherry casks, along with a range of wine cask finishes. Following a 2017 expansion to four stills, capacity now stands at around 1.2 million litres of pure alcohol per year.
The current core range includes:
- Arran 10 Year Old
- Arran 14 Year Old (relaunched 2026 after a multi-year gap, matured in ex-bourbon and Palo Cortado sherry casks)
- Arran Barrel Reserve (no age statement, bourbon cask matured)
- Arran Quarter Cask “The Bothy” (cask strength)
- Arran Sherry Cask “The Bodega” (no age statement, cask strength)
- Arran 18 Year Old
- Arran 25 Year Old
- Arran 30 Year Old (new permanent addition, 2026)
- The Millenium Casks
- 12 year old (cask strength)
- 16 year old
- 17 year old
- Premium Sherry cask finish
- The Arran Single Malt (Premium Bourbon cask finish)
- The Devil’s Punchbowl
- Orkney Bere Barley single malt
- Machrie Moor (A lightly peated whisky, the name of which is a nod to the Machrie Moor standing stones on the Isle)
Distillery info:
Detail |
Information |
|---|---|
| Name | Arran |
| Region | Island |
| Country | scottish |
| Logo |  |
| Status | Active |
| Founded | 1991 |
| Water source | Loch na Davie |
| Malting floor | No |
| Owned by | Isle of Arran Distillers Ltd |
| Address | Isle of Arran Distillers Ltd - Distillery Lochranza Isle of Arran KA27 8HJ |
| Visitor centre | Yes |
| Website | https://www.arranwhisky.com/ |
| https://www.twitter.com/arranwhisky | |
| https://www.facebook.com/arranwhisky/ | |
| https://www.instagram.com/arranwhisky/ | |
| https://www.linkedin.com/company/arran-distillers-ltd | |
| YouTube | https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZtS-xQ5ndioJWLt0ZWRJuQ |
| Community | White Stag |
| Map |
Distillery Setup:
Component |
Capacity |
Quantity |
|---|---|---|
| Mash tun | 2.5 tonnes | 1 |
| Washback | 15,000 litres | 6 |
| Wash still | 7,100 litres | 2 |
| Spirit Still | 5,200 litres | 2 |
| Expected yearly output in LPA (Litres of pure alcohol) | 1,200,000 |
Frequently Asked Questions
Isle of Arran Distillers Ltd brought legal distilling back to the island in 1995, after more than 150 years, building the Lochranza distillery on Arran’s northern side. In the past, the island had been home to over 50 mostly illegal distilleries, with the whisky nicknamed “Arran water.”
Construction, which started in 1994, was briefly paused when a pair of protected Golden Eagles began nesting on a nearby cliff. When the distillery opened in August 1995, the eagles gave it a flyby, as if in blessing.
No. In 2019, the company opened a second site, Lagg, on Arran’s south coast, dedicated to heavily peated spirit. The original site is now sometimes called “Lochranza distillery” to distinguish it, though its whisky remains branded as Arran.
Arran’s water is drawn from Loch na Davie, filtered through peaty soil and granite as it descends toward Lochranza.
The core Arran range is made with non-peated barley (bought externally, since Arran doesn’t operate its own malting floor). Heavily peated spirit is instead produced at the sister Lagg distillery, though Arran also makes a lightly peated expression, Machrie Moor.
The core range includes the 10, 14, 18, 25, and 30 Year Old expressions, alongside the no-age-statement Barrel Reserve, Quarter Cask “The Bothy,” and Sherry Cask “The Bodega.”
Arran Gold is a cream liqueur also produced by the distillery, alongside whisky ranges such as the Robert Burns single malt and blended range and the Lochranza Blend.
Yes, Arran Distillery has a visitor centre.