Lochlea Distillery

Lochlea is a farm distillery which is located in South Ayrshire. For a long time, until his death, Lochlea was the home of Robert Burns. The company is privately owned and totally independent. From growing the barley to malting, distilling and maturing, everything is done in-house.

Production started in 2018, but it wasn’t until August 2021 that the first rumors emerged that there was a new distillery in Ayrshire.

The first distillery manager was Malcolm Rennie who previously worked for Ardbeg, Kilchoman and Annandale. He has since been succeeded by John Campbel, who was in charge of Laphroaig for 25 years. The specially designed bottle has a relief that depicts the tire tracks of the tractors that work the land.

Owner

Lochlea Distillery Company Limited
Status

Operational
Country

Scotland
Region

Lowlands
Production type:

Single Malt
Founded

2018
Production yearly

200.000 Liters

History

Lochlea Farm was once home to Robert Burns who worked the farm as a teenager when his father ran it from 1777 to 1784.

Planning permission was granted for a distillery and visitor centre at Lochlea Farm in Kilmarnock in 2015 and the distillery is currently under construction by the farms owner Neil McGeoch.

Over £6m was investment in designing and constructing the distillery.

Lochlea was planning started in 2014.

Permission was granted in August 2015.

First spirit was produced in August 2018.

The first distillery manager Malcolm Rennie was distillery manager until September 2021 and was replaced by Ex-distillery manager of Laphroaig John Campbell from October 2021.

Timeline of Lochlea

“Moving over to the mainland and joining Lochlea Distillery is an exciting step for my career. It’s an opportunity to develop a whisky that is innovative and distinctive, with a distillery that shares my ethos on quality, environment and sustainability. Getting involved in the process from this early stage means I can help to define what Lochlea becomes. The next few years are going to be incredibly exciting for us and I’m looking forward to us creating something really special”

John Campell

Director and Master Blender of Lochlea