NOT FARKIN BUT PORTINTRUAN ON ISLAY

 Elixir Distillers Name New Islay Distillery Portintruan

Whisky Exchange Singh Brothers to Start Production Early 2024

ARTIST'S RENDERING OF PORTINTRUAN DISTILLERY

The rumours of a new distillery near Port Ellen, the 11th Islay Distillery, go back quite a few years. It was referred to as "Farkin Distillery", named after the local farm and first written about as Farkin Distillery in November 2015. Six years on, Argyll and Bute council approved a new distillery on this location, to be built by the co-founders of Elixir Distillers, the brothers Sukhinder and Rajbir Singh. The official name is now known; the owners have named it Portintruan after the former farm on which it will be built. The Gaelic name, which means “place of the stream", is pronounced Port-nah-truan.

Does Islay really need another distillery?

Not everyone was pleased with the new distillery as it will generate more traffic through the village of Port Ellen, more capacity is needed on the ferry and a nice coastal part of the island will be built upon and lost for nature and wildlife. A Petition was drafted opposing the 11th distillery on Islay on the grounds that the island just didn’t have the infrastructure, fresh water and peat bogs for saturation on such a scale. As reported in March 2020 on the plans for the distillery, it will be situated on the road out from Port Ellen to Laphroaig, Lagavulin and Ardbeg distilleries. The production capacity is said to be one million litres of alcohol annually. Modern technology with heat recovery and a focus on sustainability are paired with "old-style production techniques", Elixir Distillers report. Elixir Distillers is the renamed in 2017 independent bottling arm of what was earlier called Speciality Drinks, owned by the founders of the Whisky Exchange, Sukhinder and Rajbir Singh. They own the Port Askaig whisky brand, the Black Tot Finest Caribbean blended rum and the 2021-launched Highland Nectar Scotch Whisky Liqueur.

Evidently, it hasn’t passed muster and the Distillery Manager has been appointed, Georgie Crawford who has worked for Diageo for 14 years at Talisker, Glen Ord and Teaninich, among others. After working for many years as Lagavulin’s Distillery Manager, she took over the position of project manager for the reconstruction of Diageo's Port Ellen Distillery in mid-2018.

She will be responsible for the production of up to one million litres of alcohol in the Portintruan Distillery. The majority of this is to be produced from malt that is malted on the company's own malting floors on the distillery site. But first she will oversee the construction of this new Islay distillery in the south of the island - not far from the Port Ellen Distillery where she is currently based.

Elixir Distillers were founded by Sukhinder and Rajbir Singh, who also run the Whisky Exchange and, for example, own the Port Askaig whisky brand. On the positive side, it will generate more jobs on the island and to overcome the housing problems on the island, there will be 14 new houses built next to the distillery for the workforce.

Design Change 

The design of the distillery has changed dramatically since the original plans were submitted and the changed overall look, more traditional, is now more in line with the other three Kildalton Distilleries of Laphroaig, Lagavulin and Ardbeg.

As for metadata, the total investment will be between £20m and £30m; Portintruan will employ more than 15 people; the distillery will also have a visitor centre; they are expected to open in 2023 to reach their scheduled production projection and work will start this year.

There are various plans for the distillery, with one being the addition of an experimental distillery within the site – meaning two in one. The aim is for the team to produce rum as well as Scotch whisky. The visitor’s centre will house a bar, a restaurant and a tasting room. There will also be an education facility to serve as an apprenticeship programme base.

The announcement comes ahead of the 2022 edition of Fèis Ìle, an annual festival of whisky and music on Islay. Taking place from the 27th May to the 4th June, the event will allow attendees the opportunity to view the distillery plans, as well as tastings run by Elixir Distilleries across the days. 

A high amount of the malt used at Portintruan is to be produced on traditional malting floors on the distillery site. In addition, the wash stills will be direct-fired, using bio-diesel. Co-owner Sukhinder Singh emphasises Elixir Distillers' "flavour-led" approach, which should also shape Portintruan whisky. They plan to work with different phenol levels. In addition to the main distillery, Portintruan will also operate an experimental distillery to develop not only different styles of whisky, but also rum. Start of production is planned for early 2024.