An Austrian IT executive with a history of investment in distilleries has become the major shareholder in Ardgowan, which is looking to revive whisky production in Inverclyde.
Roland Grain has injected £7.2 million into the business, along with a further £1.2m from new and existing shareholders. The money will allow Ardgowan to begin construction of its one million litre single malt distillery later this year, with production expected to begin in 2023.
Mr Grain is the founder, owner and chief executive of Grain GmbH, which provides IT services to large international corporations in 17 countries world-wide.
His track record in the spirits industry began with an initial small investment in the Cotswolds Distillery, followed by investments in Australia’s Manly Spirits, the East London Liquor Company and Potstill Spirits Trading, Australia’s largest importer. Most recently he became a 20 per cent shareholder in UK spirits business Distil.
Headed by chief executive Martin McAdam, Ardgowan Distillery was set up in 2016 to develop a distillery and visitor centre on the historic Ardgowan Estate near Inverkip. Planning approval for the distillery was granted in 2017, but the project’s backers say fundraising efforts were delayed by the uncertainty of Brexit, followed by the outbreak of the Covid pandemic.
The new distillery will revive the name of the Ardgowan Distillery, which was founded in 1896 in Greenock. After a few years of whisky production, the facility was then used to make grain spirit and industrial alcohol until it was destroyed in the May Blitz of 1941.
Mr Grain said he and the company’s founders, Mr McAdam and Alan Baker, have a “shared vision” of what the project can achieve.
”Already they have built a strong team around them – not least their chairman Willie Phillips and their whisky maker Max McFarlane – and together we will craft the finest quality single malt whisky based on the extraordinary location of the Ardgowan Estate and the unusual microclimate of the Inverkip area,” he said.
READ MORE: Glenlivet reopens after huge renovation: Sneak Peek
“My hope is that the distillery will become a landmark building and a significant tourist attraction in the years ahead, and I very much look forward to seeing work commence this year. Ardgowan Estate is less than an hour’s drive from Glasgow and in 2019 Greenock welcomed more than 100,000 cruise ship visitors, so I believe there is a great opportunity to capture this market with a first-class food, drink and retail tourist experience.”
The distillery and visitor centre are expected to create up to 30 new jobs within five years. The first phase will include two copper stills and six washbacks with an out put of one million litres annually, with capacity to double that with the addition of two further stills plus washbacks.
To generate revenue in the run-up to making its own spirit, Ardgowan has produced several blended malts under its Expedition and Clydebuilt series. Its first Clydebuilt release, Coppersmith, won silver in the blended malt category of the 2020 Scottish Whisky Awards.
“Roland Grain is a brilliant and passionate cornerstone investor who has global experience in investing in a whole rage of spirits businesses,” Mr McAdam said. “He is a genuine whisky enthusiast who has visited distilleries all over Scotland, and he has a clear vision for the project which is very much aligned with ours, based on place, provenance and people.
“This is terrific news for the project and for Inverclyde. We have put a lot of the uncertainty of Brexit behind us and we hope that Covid will also soon be a distant memory.”
Sir Ludovic Shaw-Stewart, the 12th Baronet at Ardgowan Estate, said the distillery is an important part of the re-development of the estate.
“Together Ardgowan House, Castle & Gardens and Ardgowan Distillery will create a compelling destination which can draw visitors from all around the world,” he added.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here