Last week Orkney Distillery announced the first distillation of spirit destined to become Scotch whisky - a fitting way to have celebrated International Whisky Day (27th March).
Orkney Distillery isn’t exactly an entirely new distillery on the island. They were founded in 2016 with spirit production starting in 2018. So far the distillery have produced award winning gin, but making whisky and expanding their spirit portfolio has always been their ambition.
Managing director and co-founder Stephen Kemp said “Whisky production has been our dream since we began work on the distillery in 2017, so we were incredibly excited to receive our official approvals to allow us to finally begin production…We’re also fortunate to be working with some of the most respected and experienced whisky production experts.”
Not much has been revealed about the whisky itself, though Kemp promises that they are "determined to create a single malt of exceptional quality and provenance, one that reflects our values as a business and celebrates the long tradition of whisky making in Orkney.”
What we do know is that the distillery plans on utilising older, lesser-used varieties of barley such as locally grown bere. They will also use a number of different of cask types to mature their whisky, though no specific details have been mentioned.
This announcement is no doubt a dream fulfilled for the distillery and their team (or, more precisely, a dream near-fulfilled; they still have to wait the obligatory three years for their spirit to mature).
Indeed, it’s been a frustrating journey for the distillery. The Covid-19 pandemic caused delays to their plans to expand their distillery, which in turn would facilitate whisky production.
Thankfully, after they were finally able to install three new pot stills that increased their production capacity to 30,000 litres annually, Orkney Distillery were granted their license to distil whisky in 2023.
While we wait for their spirit to mature, Orkney Distillery have produced two different blends, Hoy and Fara, named after two islands that make up the Orkney isles. There will be a peated and unpeated expression and will include other whisky made on the island.
Kemp adds that “these blends will be bottled and further matured in Orkney, and they’ll serve as a brilliant introduction to what we’re looking to achieve with our diversification into Scotch”.
In addition to whisky, Orkney Distillery have also been granted permission to make rum. Production has already begun and more details will be revealed soon.
For the longest time whisky fans were used to Scapa and Highland Park being the only whisky brands to come from the Orkney isles. Orkney Distillery’s move into Scotch adds a new name to the local whisky scene. However, they were not the first to do so.
In fact, the very notion of ‘the first’ has proven to be controversial.
Established in 2016, Deerness Distillery have walked a similar path to the Orkney Distillery. They too produced a range of other spirits before moving onto whisky. Those plans are also close to coming to fruition with Deerness having recently secured £246,000 in funding to expand their distillery. It is hoped that the building works will be finished and the whisky distillery operational by the end of the summer 2024.
Last year Deerness declared their ambition to be Orkney’s first new whisky distillery in over 130 years - a claim that was rejected by another new whisky making project in the area.
Kimbland Distillery was founded in 2020 and were weeks away from laying their spirit to rest in casks when Deerness made their announcement. Both distilleries made headlines with their contradicting claims to be the ‘first new whisky distillery in Orkney’ and after a little light name calling in the press all parties seemed to agree that two new whiskies are better than one, for both Orkney and the wider whisky world. Nothing wrong with a little friendly competition after all.
Since that drama has died down, it’s fair to say that it’s an exciting time for whiskey in Orkney. After more than a century there are new names looking to make their own mark as well as contribute to the region’s impressive whisky legacy.
Now that Orkney Distillery, Deerness, and Kimbland all have spirit maturing, whisky fans will obviously have a few years to wait before they can get their hands on some new Orkney made Scotch. But after 130+ years, that will feel like no time at all.