Ardgowan Distillery Launches Shipwright Blended Scotch Whisky

The Ardgowan Distillery, an emerging Scotch whisky brand, recently launched Shipwright, the second limited-edition bottling in its Clydebuilt series.

The new release is a blend of single malts from Speyside and Highland distilleries wholly matured in first-fill Oloroso sherry casks. Shipwright is non-chill filtered, non-colored and has been bottled at 48% ABV.

Created by Ardgowan’s master whisky maker Max McFarlane, it follows the success of the distillery’s first Clydebuilt release, Coppersmith, which won a silver medal in the 2020 Scottish Whisky Awards (in the blended malt category). The Clydebuilt series aims to celebrate the pride shown by generations of shipbuilders on the River Clyde in Scotland.

“The feedback we’ve had from Coppersmith gives us great confidence in our ability to craft premium whisky with broad appeal,” Cheif Executive Martin McAdam said in a prepared statement. “We see a real appetite for quality blended malt and Max has continued this theme with Shipwright – which solely comprises top drawer single malts. I think it is our best dram yet. Looking ahead we will continue to source the finest quality casks to develop the next release in the Clydebuilt series, and also for ultra-limited releases in our Discovery series.”

With construction plans in place, the distillery hopes to be open to the public in 2023.

“Naturally, our plans have been on hold for some months due firstly to Brexit and then Covid- 19, but now I am confident we will start work later this year on our one million litre distillery,” McAdam added. “Ardgowan is en route to the islands, it’s near the sea and I think this will help us create a coastal lowland malt of real character. Until we have our own product on shelves it is very important to generate revenue and demonstrate we have a team that can create great whiskies and forge routes to market around the globe.”

Shipwright retails at £49.99 in the United Kingdom and is available now.