Laggan Bay Distillery, located in the south of Islay near its airport, is scheduled to come into operation next year. The facility, a joint venture between Ian Macleod Distillers and scotch bottler company The Islay Boys, is positioned as a single malt distillery, although information about the future plans for the liquid were not disclosed.
Family-owned Ian Macleod, which owns the Glengoyne, Rosebank and Tamdhu single malt brands as well as Edinburgh Gin, secured planning permission with The Islay Boys for the distillery back in 2022. Further details have been promised for “later this year”.
“I am delighted to be partnering with my friends, The Islay Boys, to build Laggan Bay Distillery,” said Ian Macleod MD Leonard Russell. “It’s a very exciting project, which will allow us to offer a brand new Islay single malt before the end of the decade.”
The two companies will be closely followed by Pernod Ricard, which in October purchased land on Islay for its own whisky production facility, just up the coast from Laggan Bay at Gartbreck Farm.
The Islay Boys, co-founded by Islay locals Mackay Smith and Donald MacKenzie, also operates Islay Ales Co.
