Isle of Harris Distillery
On the harbour front at Tarbert, looking out over East Loch Tarbert, sits one of Scotland’s most remote and community-rooted distilleries. Isle of Harris Distillers Ltd was incorporated in 2007 by musicologist Anderson “Burr” Bakewell, who had been connected to the island for decades and wanted to do something about its declining population. It took until 2015 for the distillery itself to open, backed by a combined £2.8 million grant from the Scottish Government and Highlands and Islands Enterprise, alongside private investment.
Isle of Harris calls itself “the Social Distillery,” and the description holds up. All of the distillers were hired locally and trained from scratch, spent grain goes to island crofters for livestock feed, and a community “Nosing Panel” gets involved in checking the spirit’s quality. It was the first legal distillery ever built on Harris.
The distillery draws its water from the Abhainn Cnoc a’ Charrainn, a nearby stream, and runs a medium-peated style using a stainless steel mash tun clad in American oak. Fermentation happens in eight wooden washbacks, with wash and spirit running through a single pair of copper pot stills made in Italy, a 7,000-litre wash still paired with a 5,000-litre spirit still. Production sits well below nameplate capacity for now, giving room to grow.
While Isle of Harris Gin (built around hand-harvested sugar kelp) launched within weeks of opening in 2015 and built the brand’s early reputation, the whisky side spent years quietly maturing. The first legal dram, released as The Hearach, didn’t arrive until 2023, named for the Gaelic word for a native of Harris.
The distillery has a visitor centre and runs daily tours from its Tarbert home, with a peat fire burning in the hearth to greet guests.
Isle of Harris Whiskies
- The Hearach Single Malt – the core, non-age-stated expression at 46% ABV, matured across first-fill ex-bourbon (Heaven Hill and Buffalo Trace), Oloroso, and Fino sherry casks, married together before bottling. Non-chill filtered, natural colour, lightly peated.
- The Hearach Croft Strength – a 52% ABV, higher-strength expression of the same recipe, currently sold through select UK airport travel retail. Flagging for your confirmation whether this counts as core range or a travel-retail exclusive for site purposes.
- A First Fill Oloroso Cask expression matured entirely in Oloroso sherry casks has also been referenced by third-party retailers; worth confirming directly whether this is a permanent addition to the range or a limited one-off before including it as core.
Distillery info:
Detail |
Information |
|---|---|
| Name | Isle of Harris Distillery |
| Region | Island |
| Logo |  |
| Status | Active |
| Founded | 2007 |
| Water source | Abhainn Cnoc a' Charrainn |
| Owned by | Isle of Harris Distillers Ltd |
| Address |
Tarbert, |
| Visitor centre | Yes |
| Website | https://www.harrisdistillery.com |
| https://www.twitter.com/harrisdistiller | |
| https://www.facebook.com/isleofharrisdistillers/ | |
| Community | N/A |
| Map |
Distillery Setup:
Component |
Capacity |
Quantity |
|---|---|---|
| Mash tun | 1.2 tonnes | Stainless steel, clad in American oak |
| Washback | ? litres | 8 (wood species unconfirmed - see notes) |
| Wash still | 7,000 litres | 1 (copper pot still, made in Italy) |
| Spirit Still | 5,000 litres | 1 (copper pot still, made in Italy) |
| Expected yearly output in LPA (Litres of pure alcohol) | 230,000 |