Scotland’s Ardgowan Announces New Blended Single Malt

Ardgowan, a planned lowland scotch distillery located 30 miles west of Glasgow, has announced Coppersmith, the first in what will be a limited-edition range of blended whiskies called Clydebuilt. The new expression is a blend of Speyside and Highland malts matured in first-fill Oloroso barrels, according to the distillery.

The new release is the first following the hiring of Max McFarlane, a scotch veteran who spent 25 years at Edrington, where he oversaw a number of brands, including Famous Grouse, Cutty Sark, Bunnahabhain, Tamdhu and Highland Park. “In our first release I wanted to produce a top-drawer blended malt and I believe that is what we have achieved,” said McFarlane in a prepared statement.

 “Coppersmith is the first in the Clydebuilt series of whiskies which Ardgowan Distillery will release in the years ahead. Each bottle in the series will celebrate the pride shown by generations of workers on the Clyde, who together built some of the world’s most illustrious ships.”

Coppersmith is non-chill filtered, free of coloring, and bottled at 48% ABV. The company describes it as “a whisky to savour, which oozes opulence and stunning cask maturation with a super balance of sweet and spicy, heather honey, sultanas and very dark chocolate, with a long, dry finish.”

It is on shelves now at select retailers in the UK and Ireland, as well as from the Ardgowan Distillery online shop.

Ardgowan’s distillery is slated to be up and running in 2021, and until it’s completed, the company plans to continue releasing blends, including additional entries in the Clydebuilt series. Earlier this year, Ardgowan Expedition won a gold medal at the  Scottish Whisky Awards for the best blended malt over 12 years old.

 “The first steps on our journey in developing our distillery is to bring together a great team,” said Ardgowan CEO Martin McAdam. “We have Willie Phillips our chairman and now Max McFarlane, both of them are amazing whisky legends. We are in awe of their skill. The starting point with both of them is quality. With Willie we created our Expedition blended malt and now with Max on board we are very excited by his ideas and creativity.”