Abhainn Dearg Distillery — Local services in Lewis and Harris

Wow, wow, wow. This is like the whisky industry of old, and yes I am old enough to remember.

Much of the industry has moved to a whisky 'experience' with blingy expensive visitors centres, and tours run by staff who have little knowledge of whisky or the distillery itself and then charge you the cost of a bottle for the privilege.

Not Here. Yes it is off the beaten track and doesn't look like the traditional multi-million pound distilleries. What you do get is HEART AND PASSION, in absolute bucket loads. And reasonable size taste, not a finger wetting.

We arrived on damp dank day and was greeted with a huge smile. We were taken into the shop, which is also the bar and seating area this leads into bottling plant( well a room where they do the bottling)

You don't need to pay for an expensive tour when you speak to someone who has the knowledge, experience and passion. He was actually waiting for and them taking a delivery whilst he took the timw to engage with us. He told us about everything you needed to know and more. The water is local. The barley is locally farmed. They malt the barley on site. The yeast can't be local cos they can't produce enough locally 50kg per mash. The warehouse on site, not sent away like the big boys, bottling on site unlike the big boys

A Truly local spirit.

Each 10 year bottling is from an individual cask, and therefore slightly different each time, again different to the big boys who try and turn out the same each time.

All my questions answered, why bottled at 46%, how many bottles produced, what is the capacity of the stills, who is the biggest consumer, etc

I tried the 10 and the cask strength, the latter for me was much smoother and creamier. Which I then had to buy!!!

Watch out for new expressions.

I can certainly recommend a visit, if you are in the area, but don't expect Glenmorangie experience, to me it was...

Booked this for my father (who is a real whisky enthusiast)while we were on a visit to the island. I then read a few bad reviews and started to regret it. We arrived ( party of four) and met a lovely Dutch woman and her son who were also on the tour . We stood and waited till the allotted time and Marko appeared, right away he chatted away and even before the tour started everyone was laughing and joking. The tour was superb. Yes it’s not your usual slick presentation of a spotless distillery and yes the operation has not been running or some time however what we got was a down to earth conversation about the trials and tribulations of a small business trying to survive/ succeed in a market full off investment and expensive marketing. Marko and his family/team have got something that is different and to be admired in todays mass produced homogeneous world . My dad who it has to be said has been on many distillery tour thought it was one of the best and the every one of us enjoyed the visit very much . You only get out what you put in and if you go with the right attitude you will find this tour superb and Marko a thoroughly decent bloke who really goes out his way to make this an unforgettable trip. We wish him all the best for the future. If you love your whisky then make an effort to get to Abhainn Dearg . Yes it’s different but that’s what makes it so good . Last but certainly not least the ten year old PX and bourbon are honest decent whiskies ( not chill filtered and no colour added at at least 46 % .There are more than a few companies who charge far too much for what they offer could learn something from...

The newest distillery in Outer Hebrides. Opened in 2008 by a local man. This year they are due to produce their first 10 year old malt. A big event. August would be the time it’s ready. I’m not a whiskey drinker usually, but I tried theirs, it’s soft, smells of toffee and tastes of gentle flowers and smooth very subtle smoke. It was very good.

We visited to buy whiskey as gifts for work colleagues, but came away thoroughly rewarded. To find it, drive until you see two large Uig Chessmen, if you don’t know what they are, another reason to visit Uig. Walk up the track and go to to the left into the yard and the reception is easy to find. We were met by Butt the cat, when you meet him, you can see why he’s called that, he was sitting on a bar stool soaking up the sun. He’s very friendly. A local woman, Laura i think, apologies if wrong, was our guide. She showed us where the locally grown barley is smoked using island peat, how it’s milled and crushed and then the distillation process. The bonded warehouse was a bit of a labyrinth of sherry and bourbon oak casks with coloured faces. It all makes sense to to staff.

You can are offered a whiskey and spirit to try. Spirit is distilled alcohol which isn’t three years and day old. To me it looks darker and tastes slightly more raw and intense. You can buy either. They only make 8/10000 litres a year, and it’s not available to buy off the island except online.

It’s a wonderful location, superb locally produced product with very warm and friendly staff. And Butt the...