Galloway

Larch from a sawmill at Kirkcowan helped build the distillery that became Galloway. Standing on Wigtown Road at the edge of Newton Stewart, among the Galloway Hills in Dumfries and Galloway, it belongs to Scotland’s Lowland whisky region. It began in 2017 as Crafty Distillery, with gin, not whisky, as its first spirit. [3][4]

Gin established the business; whisky followed as a separate ambition. When Sam Heughan and Alex Norouzi bought and renamed it Galloway Distillery in 2025, they took on both an existing whisky project and the Hills & Harbour spirits. Their plans would expand whisky production and the visitor offering, while the established range continued. [3][5]

From Crafty to Galloway

Graham Taylor, his father Billy Taylor and their friend Craig Rankin founded Crafty in 2017. Graham brought a background in marketing, Billy brought construction experience, and Rankin was a hotelier and chef. Heughan and Norouzi bought their business eight years later, in 2025: a change of ownership and name, rather than the founding of a new distillery. [3][4][5]

Plans had been submitted in 2015, with building work beginning in February 2017. The larch from Kirkcowan gave the original building a direct connection to its surroundings, putting local timber at the heart of the project before the first spirit ran from the stills. [3][4]

The first gin distillation followed in spring 2017. That summer brought the launch of Hills & Harbour Gin, made with a base spirit distilled from scratch on site. Gin was established here several years before either the whisky project or the Galloway name arrived. [3]

Gin and the Crafty years

Snow that fell during Anticyclone Hartmut found an unusual destination in 2018: a single bottle of gin. The recorded account describes water from the melted snow being used to make that bottle, rather than a continuing snowmelt range. It is a striking episode from the Crafty years, though its source is Wikipedia and it still needs independent corroboration. [3]

The established Hills & Harbour Gin takes a different approach, bringing together noble fir, bladderwrack, mango and Sichuan pepper among its botanicals. Ingredients associated with Scotland sit alongside flavours from further afield, built on the base spirit made at the distillery itself. [3]

Crafty also made an annual limited Galloway Gin from 2018 to 2024, using botanicals foraged in Scotland. Like the snowmelt bottle, this series is recorded in Wikipedia and needs a second source. Its name predates the distillery’s renaming and should be kept distinct from the later Galloway Distillery identity. [3]

The Crafty name disappeared after the 2025 purchase, but its spirits did not all follow it. Trade reporting says the Hills & Harbour range continues, including 24 Seven Vodka. The ownership change did not sweep away every Crafty brand. [5]

The move into whisky

The whisky project began with a tribute. In 2020, Crafty announced plans to make Scotch whisky under the name Billy & Co., honouring cofounder Billy Taylor, who had died by then. It tied the proposed whisky directly to the original team, although whether Billy & Co. ever reached release remains unconfirmed. [3]

Wikipedia records the distillery joining a Bairds Malt trial to test new barley varieties and making its first whisky run in 2022. Both details still need independent corroboration, as does the recorded fermentation time of up to 168 hours. Together, they describe the early whisky work, but the sourcing remains incomplete. [3]

The producer’s own account sets out an unhurried approach: 100% Scottish malted barley, rare yeasts, long fermentation and very slow distillation. These are the production choices it highlights for the spirit, rather than a description of a released Galloway single malt. [1][3]

A first release date for that single malt remains unconfirmed. The available record also leaves the distillery’s water source and cask policy unspecified. Its stated production approach is clearer than its release timetable or maturation story.

Stills, output and expansion

Five pot stills, each with a capacity of 250 litres, are recorded at the distillery. The count comes from Wikipedia and needs further corroboration. These vessel capacities are separate from the production figures reported for the business. [3]

Three figures describe three different measures, with their units and status kept distinct:

The planned figure represents a substantial expansion, not output achieved in 2025. Nor should the yearbook’s listed capacity be treated as interchangeable with the reported maximum output: the accounts describe different measures, not competing estimates of the same one. [3][5][6]

An in-house bottling room is reported to have capacity for up to 175,000 bottles a year. The distillery is also reported to run on green energy and to use local wind for cooling during distillation. Bottling capacity and energy use describe other parts of the operation, separate from whisky output. [5][6]

Heughan, Norouzi and Sassenach

Heughan and Norouzi’s connection with the distillery began before they bought it. The pair cofounded Sassenach Spirits in 2021, and The Sassenach Wild Scottish Gin was developed and made at Crafty before its release in June 2023. Its Scottish botanicals include heather, Scots pine resin, oats, rhubarb and blaeberry. [3][5]

The purchase and renaming followed in 2025, with the Galloway Distillery launch announced on 1 October. The producer’s announcement describes Galloway as Heughan’s hometown. On the distillery’s home page, he calls the venture “A homecoming and new chapter, in the pursuit of fine spirit”. [2][5][6]

Sassenach is a word often used by Heughan’s character in Outlander. For whisky readers, the essential distinction is straightforward: The Sassenach is a blended Scotch whisky, not a Galloway single malt. [3][5]

Under the Scotch Whisky Regulations, blended Scotch whisky combines one or more single malt Scotch whiskies with one or more single grain Scotch whiskies. Trade reporting says The Sassenach blended Scotch is to be produced at the distillery, but which distilleries supply the blend remains unconfirmed in the available record. [5][7]

The first release announced under the new distillery name was The Sassenach Finest Scottish Vodka, due in November 2025. Trade reporting also identifies The Galloway Scotch Whisky as a planned brand. Neither that brand announcement nor the vodka launch establishes a first release date for Galloway single malt. [5][6]

Buildings and visiting

The distillery’s address is Wigtown Road, Newton Stewart, Dumfries and Galloway DG8 6AS. Its position on the edge of town places it among the Galloway Hills, within Scotland’s Lowland whisky region, in the same setting where the original Crafty business began. [3][4]

In 2024, Dumfries and Galloway Council approved a new production and visitor facility designed for net zero production. The producer’s October 2025 announcement also set out plans to expand the visitor offering over the following 12 to 14 months. These are approved and announced developments; completion of every element is not confirmed in the available record. [3][6]

Those visitor plans point towards a larger operation and a new way to experience the distillery. For whisky followers, the outstanding question is simpler: when will the first Galloway single malt be released? Its release date remains unconfirmed. [3][5]

Sources

1. Galloway Distillery, producer’s account. Galloway Whisky. Checked November 2026.
2. Galloway Distillery, producer’s account. Home page. Checked November 2026.
3. Wikipedia. Galloway distillery. Checked November 2026.
4. Scottish Delight, trade. Galloway Distillery: History and Visitor Guide. Checked November 2026.
5. The Spirits Business, trade. Sam Heughan opens Galloway Distillery in Scotland. Checked November 2026.
6. PR Newswire via Morningstar, producer’s account. Sam Heughan Unveils Distillery in His Hometown of Galloway, Scotland. Checked November 2026.
7. legislation.gov.uk. The Scotch Whisky Regulations 2009, regulation 3. Checked November 2026.