Arran: The Lochranza Distillery

Type: Distillery and brand

At 2.29pm on 29 June 1995, the first spirit passed through Lochranza’s spirit safe, according to the producer’s history.[1] At the north end of the Isle of Arran, a new distillery had begun its working life. Its whisky would be mostly unpeated: Machrie Moor, the first peated Arran, followed in December 2010.[1]

What Lochranza is known for

Arran’s first single malt was a three-year-old, released in 1998. By spring 2006, Lochranza had a ten-year-old to release, with older expressions following as its stocks matured. That progression anchors the story of a distillery whose production began in the 1990s.[1]

The ten-year-old makes a particularly useful landmark. Its first release was bottled at 46% ABV, without chill filtration, in spring 2006.[1] Those details describe that release, rather than every expression carrying the Arran name.

Arran’s mostly unpeated whisky is the main thread; Machrie Moor adds a separate, peated strand.[1] To explore the sister distillery’s story, continue with Lagg. The two names belong to distinct distilleries, not interchangeable versions of the same place.

Finding the site and building the distillery

Water brought the project to Lochranza. The producer dates the site search to 1993 and says the location was chosen for its water.[1] Construction began in December 1994, and the stills and washbacks were installed by April 1995.[6]

David Hutchison designed the distillery. The account reproduced by Whiskey Atlas records the first mashing on 24 June 1995; five days later, the first spirit passed through the spirit safe.[6][1] Equipment installation, mashing and spirit production were successive steps in bringing the distillery to life, with the formal opening still to come.

Story box: From a site search to a first release

Founding story: Harold Currie founded Arran Distillers Ltd in 1994. Publicly offered “Founder’s Bonds” supplied part of the venture’s funding.[5] Founding and funding source.

Turning point: The producer records the first Arran Single Malt release in 1998: a three-year-old whisky.[1] First-release source.

Documented record: First spirit on 29 June 1995 preceded the official opening on 17 August 1995.[1] Production and opening source.

Claim-source mapping: The trade history records the founding and public funding; the producer’s timeline records the first-spirit, opening and release dates.[5][1]

Last checked: 7 November 2026.

Lochranza’s production and release timeline

From breaking ground to releasing older malts, the chronology follows the producer’s account. The early installation and mashing details come from the Whiskey Atlas profile.[1][6]

James MacTaggart succeeded Gordon Mitchell in June 2007, after the ten-year-old’s spring 2006 debut. The range then broadened: a fourteen-year-old in August 2010, peated Machrie Moor that December, and the first core-range eighteen-year-old in February 2016. The 2019 rebranding followed those additions.[1] These dates place the management change within the range’s development, without making it the explanation for each release.

Two assumptions worth setting aside

An island address does not mean heavily peated whisky

Geography is no substitute for a distillery’s production record. Arran is mostly unpeated; the producer identifies December 2010’s Machrie Moor as its first peated release.[1] It was a later addition to the story, not the style with which Lochranza began.

For another island distillery profile, explore Tobermory and Ledaig. Follow each distillery’s record rather than assuming a shared flavour from an island address.

Legal distilling on Arran did not begin in 1995

Arran had legal distilling long before Lochranza opened. The record identifies an earlier legal distillery at Lagg in the nineteenth century.[1] Lochranza’s 1995 opening therefore belongs to the island’s distilling revival, not the beginning of all licensed distilling on Arran.

There are also two Lagg histories to keep in view. The earlier legal distillery belongs to the nineteenth-century account; the sister distillery identified in Lochranza’s present-day history is Lagg at Kilmory.[1] The shared name connects the reading, but the two histories remain distinct.

Where to go next

• Lagg: continue with Lochranza’s sister distillery.
• Tobermory: Ledaig: explore another island distillery profile.
• Isle of Raasay: broaden your reading across island distilleries.

Sources

[1] Isle of Arran Distillers. Our Story. Undated web history, checked November 2026.
https://www.arranwhisky.com/about/our-story

[5] Whisky Clan. Arran Distillery: History, Owner, Range and Visitor Guide. Undated trade profile, checked November 2026.
https://www.whisky-clan.com/post/arran-distillery-history-owner-range-and-visitor-guide

[6] Whiskey Atlas. Lochranza Distillery (Arran). Undated trade profile, checked November 2026.
https://www.whiskeyatlas.co.uk/distillery/lochranza

This desk-researched article uses the supplied verified fact sheet, distinguishing the producer’s historical account from trade reporting.

Last checked: November 2026