Set among the Galloway Hills on the edge of Newton Stewart, Galloway Distillery has one of the more unusual origin stories of any Lowland producer on this site. The site opened in 2017 as Crafty Distillery, founded by Graham Taylor together with his father Billy Taylor and friend Craig Rankin, an unlikely trio of a marketing man, a builder and a hotelier and chef, built from larch wood sourced at a sawmill in nearby Kirkcowan. Crafty made its name with gin and vodka, notably the Hills & Harbour range, long before whisky entered the picture.
The site’s next chapter arrived in 2025, when Outlander actor Sam Heughan and business partner Alex Norouzi acquired the distillery and renamed it Galloway Distillery. Heughan was born in nearby Balmaclellan and grew up in the Glenkens, so the purchase doubled as a homecoming: it gives his existing Sassenach spirits brand, launched in 2021, a physical production home in the region he grew up in for the first time. Plans filed alongside the acquisition point to a significant net-zero expansion, adding malt and grain whisky production capacity and a visitor centre overlooking the Galloway Hills, with construction slated to begin in spring 2026.
For now, Galloway’s own single malt is still resting in cask; the distillery’s own messaging is candid that “it could be a while before it’s ready.” What’s currently sold as whisky under the Galloway/Sassenach banner, The Sassenach Spirit of Home, is a blended Scotch that predates the distillery deal and is produced elsewhere. Visitors touring the Newton Stewart site today are mostly tasting the gin and vodka side of the business, alongside a first look at new-make spirit destined to become that debut single malt.
Galloway Distillery Whiskies (core range)
Since there’s no distillery-bottled single malt yet, this section currently only has one whisky product, and it isn’t made on-site:
- The Sassenach Spirit of Home Blended Scotch Whisky (46% ABV) – a blend of aged single malt and 21-year-old organic single grain, finished in Madeira casks. Launched in 2021 under Heughan’s Sassenach brand, predating the distillery acquisition; production is reported to sit with the Loch Lomond Group rather than at Newton Stewart. Worth flagging to Peter whether this belongs in a “Whiskies” section at all, since it isn’t Galloway-distilled.
- Galloway’s own single malt is in maturation; no release date confirmed.
Distillery info:
Detail |
Information |
|---|---|
| Name | Galloway Distillery |
| Region | Lowland |
| Logo |  |
| Status | active |
| Founded | 2017 (as Crafty Distillery; renamed Galloway Distillery 2025) |
| Water source | ? |
| Owned by | Sam Heughan and Alex Norouzi |
| Address |
Wigtown Road, |
| Visitor centre | Yes |
| Website | https://www.gallowaydistillery.com |
| N/A | |
| N/A | |
| Community | N/A |
| Map |
Distillery Setup:
Component |
Capacity |
Quantity |
|---|---|---|
| Mash tun | 0.5 tonnes | Semi-lauter, stainless steel |
| Washback | 2000 litres | 2 (iStill, stainless steel) |
| Wash still | 1000 litres | 1 (tube-and-shell condenser) |
| Spirit Still | 250 litres | 1 (tube-and-shell condenser) |
| Expected yearly output in LPA (Litres of pure alcohol) | ? |