ISLE of Harris Distillers has completed fundraising for a whisky maturation warehouse that is now under construction, as it gears up to produce its first spirit this summer.

Simon Erlanger, managing director of the island's first commercial whisky distiller, said the warehouse at Ardhasaig on the west coast of the island would offer the ideal climate for maturation because it would get the "full brunt of the prevailing wind and weather".

Highlands & Islands Enterprise has awarded a grant of nearly £250,000 for the warehouse.

And Mr Erlanger said that the majority of £1 million of second-round equity funding raised by Isle of Harris Distillers had also gone towards the building of the warehouse.

On the question of why Harris had never had a commercial Scotch whisky distillery previously, when other islands had, Mr Erlanger said: "The only reason I can think [of] is the lack of arable land and the logistical costs of ferrying malted barley in particular in from the mainland. It is an expensive place to make whisky."

He added: '"We have ambitions in the long term to see if we can grow malting whisky barley but they have so little arable land."

Emphasising his belief that the absence of a whisky distillery on Harris until this point was "largely for logistical reasons", Mr Erlanger quipped that it was not because of a "dislike of whisky".

Mr Erlanger emphasised all of the barley used by Isle of Harris Distillers in the making of its whisky, The Hearach, the Gaelic word for an inhabitant of the island, would be Scottish.

The warehouse, which is being built by 3b Construction of Ayr, is due to be completed in June.

Mr Erlanger highlighted the progress of work on the new distillery, located at Tarbert on Harris. He said it would open in the summer, more likely in August than July.

The latest £1m of funding and the award from HIE means Isle of Harris Distillers has now raised a total of £8.3m in equity and £3.1m from grants.

Mr Erlanger said Isle of Harris Distillers had 17 investors, including individuals in the UK, elsewhere in Europe, the Far East, and the US, and Scottish Enterprise.

He noted that Scottish Enterprise had put up £1.5m of the total £8.3m of equity raised.

Isle of Harris Distillers already employs 10 permanent staff. The group, who are working out of a former police house on the island, are being referred to as the "Tarbert 10" by Mr Erlanger. The company will also be recruiting between eight and 10 seasonal staff.

Mr Erlanger said: "People are saying it is the most exciting thing that has happened on the island for decades."

The warehouse will store up to 4,000 casks, containing the equivalent of one million bottles, after distilling begins. The Hearach will mature in the warehouse for years before it is bottled and sold.

Isle of Harris Distillers said people were already buying casks of The Hearach, which will be stored for them in the warehouse after the whisky is distilled

The land for the warehouse was sold to the company through its links with a local crofter and businessman, Roddy MacAskill.

Mr MacAskill said: "This will be good for the village of Tarbert and the island, and I gladly agreed to the company setting up on my croft. The distillery has already employed local people - a great boost for an area starved of paid regular employment."

Mr Erlanger noted the new distillery would be producing an Isle of Harris gin, which would be available from "day one".

He said this would be sold only directly from the distillery, either to visitors or to people from the UK or overseas who wished to purchase it through the company's website. He said the use of "one particular botanical from the island" would be a key feature of this gin.