Ardnahoe is the distillery that an independent bottler decided to build for itself. After decades spent selecting and bottling other people’s whisky, the Laing family opened its own distillery on the northeast coast of Islay, looking out over the Sound of Islay. It is a young operation with a still-narrow range, but its production has a clear signature: worm tub condensers, Islay peat and a spirit built to carry weight. It does not try to dazzle, it tries to do things well.
The beginnings (2016-2019)
Behind Ardnahoe is Hunter Laing & Co, a Glasgow bottling house founded in 2013 by Stewart Laing with his sons Andrew and Scott. For a family that had spent a lifetime buying and bottling other distilleries’ spirit, building its own on Islay was the step that closed the circle. Hunter Laing is known for its independent bottling ranges, from Old Malt Cask to Old & Rare, and with Ardnahoe it gets a spirit of its own for the first time. The build ran from 2016 to 2018: the first spirit came off the stills in October 2018 and the first cask was filled shortly after. The official opening came in April 2019, when the visitor centre opened too. It was the first new distillery to open on Islay in fifteen years.
The distillery sits on the northeast coast of the island, just north of Port Askaig, on the road to Bunnahabhain and a short way from Caol Ila, looking out over the Sound of Islay. Water is drawn from Loch Ardnahoe, soft and filtered through peat and rock. The visitor centre has a café and whisky bar with a view of the Paps of Jura, the mountains on the island opposite.
The man who shaped the spirit was Jim McEwan, one of the best-known figures in Islay whisky. Out of retirement after leaving first Bowmore and then Bruichladdich, in 2017 he took the role of Production Director at Ardnahoe: he set the stills, the process times and the character of the spirit in the early years. McEwan has since retired again, and the distillery is now run by David Livingstone, a third-generation Islay distiller from a family tied to Lagavulin.
Production and style
Ardnahoe made an unusual choice for a new distillery: worm tubs, the coiled condensers sunk in cold water that almost no one installs any more. It is the only Islay distillery to have them, and they matter: the vapour meets less copper as it condenses, and the spirit comes off heavier and oilier. At the same time the stills carry some of the longest lyne arms in Scotland, which pull the other way and add lightness and fruit. The combination is deliberate, and gives a spirit described as fruity and peaty at once. In the glass you can expect a coastal peated style, with fruit and an oily streak softening the smoke.
The rest of the process is classic but careful: barley peated to around 40 PPM from Port Ellen Maltings, long fermentations of 65 to 70 hours in Oregon pine washbacks, a capacity of about a million litres a year. Maturation starts with ex-bourbon casks, with sherry used in the special editions, and bottling is done with no chill-filtration and no colouring. There is no chase for novelty: Ardnahoe aims to make a good Islay peated whisky with a recognisable body, and for now it holds that line.
The core range and the releases
The range is still young and narrow, but it has grown quickly: the core range now rests on three stable expressions, Infinite Loch, Bholsa and the Cask Strength.
- Infinite Loch: the first official release (2024), at 50% ABV, from ex-bourbon and oloroso casks, named after Loch Ardnahoe. Peaty and fruity, with dark chocolate and a savoury finish. Around £70.
- Bholsa: the second core expression, at 50% ABV, matured mostly in oloroso casks; named after the Bholsa caves near the distillery. Darker and spicier, with red fruit, walnuts, raisins and a peppery close.
- Cask Strength: 5 years old, from first-fill bourbon, around 60-61% and undiluted; so far in two batches (2025 and 2026).
Alongside the core range come the signed editions. The Manager’s Selection was the distillery’s first single cask, 232 bottles at 58.4% from an ex-bourbon cask chosen by manager David Livingstone, and it is my favourite so far. The Chairman’s Selection, a multi-cask blend of sherry and bourbon at 60.2%, is the first signed by the founder. And every year a bottle appears for Fèis Ìle, such as the 7 year old at 59.7% in 2026.
Single casks and the market
Ardnahoe is only a few years old, and everything it bottles today comes from its start-up production: young whiskies from the same early period. Even the single editions like the Manager’s Selection are distillery selections from that stock, not bottles of a different origin. The limited releases, a few hundred bottles each, sell out quickly, and some are starting to appear at auction: a secondary market still small, driven by curiosity about a young distillery and set to grow as the stock ages.
Today and tomorrow
In April 2026 Ardnahoe lost its founder: Stewart Laing died at the age of 79. The distillery stays in the family, with his sons Scott and Andrew leading the group, and the Chairman’s Selection released a few weeks later, composed to his own brief, stands as a tribute. Otherwise Ardnahoe is what you would expect from a distillery only a few years old: stock still young, a range growing slowly, with Bholsa and the Cask Strength added recently. It takes its time, but the direction looks right.
Ardnahoe is not the distillery that rewrites the rules, and that is fine. It makes an Islay peated whisky with a full body, bottles it honestly and gives it time to grow. The Manager’s Selection remains the thing I rated most, and as the stock ages it is one of the young distilleries I follow with the most curiosity.
