A row of copper stills stand in the window of a distillery, located by the white sand beaches of Tiree’s west coast. The Isle of Tiree Distillery, run by Ian Smith and Alain Campbell, opened in 2019, operates out of an old workshop owned by Smith’s dad. It’s one of the smallest distilleries Scotland and this year released its first batch of single malt, 800 bottles retailing at £200 each.
It’s the first Tiree whisky to come from the island for about 200 years. “Details are a bit sketchy,” Campbell tells me, but despite a rich history of spirit production, whisky hasn’t been distilled here since the early 1800s. At that time distilling without a license was illegal. Laws enacted by the British government in the 1780s encouraged distillery licensing and more than 50 small stills operating on Tiree became illegal. The laws didn’t entirely stop those Highlanders who relied on income from unlicensed whisky stills, and illicit production continued until later legislation finally drove out underground whisky.
Tiree’s history, whose name means “land of corn”, inspired Smith and Campbell. The pair were touring as musicians in a band called Trail West when they decided to found the distillery. Researching whisky distilling’s history was part of the process, and they uncovered traditional stories and sites of whisky stills. Both are from Tiree, so the distillery is connected to their heritage as well as the island’s. Confessing they enjoy a dram as much as they do music — the pair still play in the band and will be touring this year — whisky was a way to fashion a livelihood on their home island. It felt like a return to tradition, albeit with contemporary twists.
Grains are broken up in an oak sherry barrel, the mash tun, and then flame is applied directly to copper pot stills. Though steam generators are cheaper, the pair wanted to stay true to 200-year-old methods. As Campbell says, “It’s really just Victorian technology,” but it produces a whisky taste of which they are both very proud. Tiree single malt is made without peat, as there isn’t much on the island, has quite a low mash temperature (when water is mixed with malt), and is aged in virgin oak quarter casks and then sherry casks, resulting in a young but complex whisky.
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Both love living and working on Tiree but it’s been challenging sometimes — more so than they imagined. They invested their savings and haven’t had any support from outside finance or grants, with only a couple of small loans. There are other difficulties to being on an island. Alongside the logistics of transporting everything by boat, so being at the weather’s mercy, power is the big issue. They can’t access high-level power where the distillery is sited, so use gas cylinders. Aside from one full-time employee, it’s just Smith and Campbell, so it’s a lot of hands-on work.
Both agree these are worthwhile trade-offs for having a distillery in a stunning location. Tiree’s alcohol production is a fraction of its bigger neighbours, but the intimate nature of the business is part of the attraction. Working on this scale, as Smith says, means that “every element of the distilling and mashing and fermenting is very much hands-on, every bottle is handcrafted”.
Such connection to craft makes the whisky special. When the first batch went up, it sold out in 12 minutes to individuals, most of whom had already enjoyed a distillery tour. These will restart in April and are a popular highlight for visitors coming to Tiree’s beautiful beaches. The distillery shop is open during the summer. If single malt isn’t quite your taste, Tiree Distillery also produces a single grain whisky made from rye, which will soon be going on sale, and has five casks of a corn whisky, a little like an American bourbon. For the non-whisky drinker there is gin.
Smith and Campbell are considering future plans. It’s difficult to expand with the limitations of island life, and they don’t want to depart from traditional methods. For now they are looking at building out existing operations a little and doing much needed spring maintenance. Despite challenges, the overriding experience for both has been one of excitement and enjoyment. As Smith says, “I wouldn’t want to have a distillery anywhere else.”
