Lagg Distillery sits on the southern tip of the Isle of Arran, a short drive from its older sibling at Lochranza. It takes its name from the original Lagg distillery, one of only three legal distilleries ever to operate on the island, which ran from around 1825 until poor management and transport difficulties closed it in 1837. For over 150 years afterwards, legal whisky-making on Arran’s south side went quiet, even as illicit “Arran Water” stills kept the tradition alive in the hills above the village.
Isle of Arran Distillers revived the name in style. Construction began in November 2017 on a striking building designed with a green roof and panoramic visitor centre, and the first spirit ran through the stills on 19 March 2019, with cask number one filled three weeks later. The distillery opened its doors to visitors that June. Where its sister site at Lochranza is known for lighter, fruit-driven whisky, Lagg was purpose-built to take over all of the group’s peated production, letting each distillery specialise in its own style.
That specialisation shows in the equipment. A four-tonne semi-lauter mash tun feeds four Douglas fir washbacks, each filled to 20,000 litres for a long 72-hour fermentation that leaves a cloudy, oily wort behind. Distillation runs through a single pair of copper pot stills, a 10,000-litre wash still and a 7,000-litre spirit still, both supplied by Forsyths of Rothes. Fresh water is drawn from a borehole drilled 110 metres deep on site. The malt itself is peated to around 50ppm using peat from north-east Scotland, giving Lagg’s new-make a heavier, more woody and earthy character than the classic coastal peat used on Islay.
In 2024, Lagg partnered with Dougarie Estate, Caledonian Climate, and Angus Estate Plant on a peatland restoration project covering 325 hectares of Arran, funded through Peatland ACTION and expected to sequester over 16,500 tonnes of CO2e over 55 years — a nod back to the very peat that shapes the whisky itself.
Lagg Distillery Whiskies
Lagg’s core range consists of two permanent expressions, both released in 2023 following an initial run of limited “Inaugural Batch” bottlings:
- Kilmory Edition (46% ABV) — the flagship, matured entirely in first-fill bourbon barrels, non-chill filtered with no added colouring. Named after the parish where the distillery stands, it’s built to showcase Lagg’s house style: peat smoke balanced against vanilla and citrus.
- Corriecravie Edition (55% ABV) — bourbon-matured spirit finished for around six months in Oloroso sherry hogsheads sourced directly from a family bodega in Jerez. Named after a nearby hamlet, it trades some of Kilmory’s directness for sweeter smoke, spice, and dried fruit.
Distillery info:
Detail |
Information |
|---|---|
| Name | Lagg Distillery |
| Region | Island |
| Logo |  |
| Status | Active |
| Founded | 2016 |
| Water source | Borehole (110m specially drilled well) |
| Owned by | Isle of Arran Distillers Ltd. |
| Address |
Lagg Distillery, |
| Visitor centre | Yes |
| Website | https://www.laggwhisky.com |
| https://www.twitter.com/LaggWhisky | |
| https://www.facebook.com/laggwhisky/ | |
| Community | The White Stag |
| Map |
Distillery Setup:
Component |
Capacity |
Quantity |
|---|---|---|
| Mash tun | 4 | Semi-lauter, stainless steel (Forsyths) |
| Washback | 24,000 litres | 4 (Douglas fir/Oregon pine, filled to 20,000L working capacity) |
| Wash still | 10,000 litres | 1 (Copper, Forsyths of Rothes) |
| Spirit Still | 7,000 litres | 1 (Copper, Forsyths of Rothes; filled to 6,500L) |
| Expected yearly output in LPA (Litres of pure alcohol) | 500,000 |