Far from the beaten path and surrounded by the raw beauty of Scotland’s western seaboard, Ardnamurchan Distillery sits tucked into the small village of Glenbeg on the eponymous peninsula. This remoteness is by design: founders set out to build a distillery that not only blended seamlessly with its rugged surroundings but also honoured the peninsula’s ancient traditions of self-sufficiency. Today, every drop of new-make spirit is powered by renewable energy (hydro, solar, and biomass) while local barley and peat shape a flavour profile that truly belongs to the Highlands. Behind the scenes, the distillery’s modern architecture conceals a circular economy: draff and pot ale find new life as animal feed on nearby farms, and field-test plots encourage biodiversity under the watchful eyes of founders, who are committed to minimal intervention at every stage.

Ardnamurchan’s distillation team is a tight-knit crew of locals and whisky-minded newcomers, all trained in the art of “light-touch” production. They pride themselves on marrying traditional craft (such as fermenting in both oak and Oregon pine washbacks) with inventive techniques like outside shell-and-tube condensers that use crisp Atlantic air to cool spirit vapour. From mash to maturation, each step is guided by a simple philosophy: let the elemental character of the peninsula shine through. Barrels rest in dunnage warehouses mere miles from the North Atlantic surf, drawing in salty seaside notes as the spirit matures. The result is a range of whiskies that capture the wild, peaty tang of the west coast (smoky yet honeyed, sea-sprayed yet velvety) and speak to a place where nature still reigns supreme.