15-07-2025
Tormore Releases First Whiskies Under Its New Owner. What's Next?
Elixir has released three new Tormore whiskies under its Blueprint series. Elixir Distillers
Elixir Distillers head blender Ollie Chilton wasn't originally planning to launch a whisky this year. Yet the launch of Tormore's new Blueprint whisky series marks a new milestone in the history of the distillery, showcasing the progress made since Elixir Distillers acquired the site from Pernod Ricard in 2022. Chilton credits the release of the three whiskies, aged in ex-American Bourbon, new oak, and ex-cream sherry casks specifically, to the curious fans that were pestering him:
'While we're waiting to launch our full range, we were getting a lot of questions about what we were doing. I think a lot of people thought we weren't doing anything. So there was a thought, well, let's release something and just give a snapshot.'
As the first ever press visitor to Tormore since Elixir's acquisition, I was particularly curious. Two years ago I wrote a piece in Whisky Magazine about my experience there. I followed Chilton as he inspected his warehouse stock and interviewed staff as I found out the distillery's plans for the future. The distillery is an architectural marvel, an Art Deco-style cross between a distillery, a palace and a power station built by then-drinks titans Schenley, an American company whose founder had ties to famous American gangsters.
With the launch of Blueprint whiskies, intended as a hint for what's to come in the future, it felt like the right time to check back in and see how Elixir has continues to reshape the distillery's operations and prepare its future whiskies.
The Tormore distillery, in all its glory. Wikipedia (sourced under a Creative Commons License)
When Elixir Distillers bought Tormore, Chilton took the lead on reimagining what the site could do, advised by distillery manager Polly Logan and Georgie Crawford, who manages the construction and planning for Elixir's under-construction Islay distillery Portintruan. Under Pernod Ricard, production was ticking along with almost all spirit produced intended for Chivas blends. Reviving the Tormore single malt brand certainly was more of a dream than reality.
Under Elixir, this is slowly changing. Tormore's transformation included assembling a dedicated team, improving warehousing, and building the physical and logistical capacity needed to take full control of spirit production and maturation. 'When you visited, we'd obviously just purchased the distillery. Now, we currently employ 26 people. So it's wildly different then the early days' Chilton told me.
He has repatriated mature casks previously stored offsite. This brought an important part of Tormore's heritage back under one roof and allowed his team to start building a consistent and traceable wood policy. A lot of spirit was also maturing in spent and tired casks, so Chilton's been experimenting. He has brought in new casks of American and French oak for his spirits, as well as a wide variety of fortified wine casks. Results have been encouraging: "We found that American oak and Tormore are fantastic together' he said. He also has been pleasantly surprised by spirit emerging from maturation in ex-Sauternes wine casks: "Sauternes is a key component and a key part of what we're doing."
Chilton isn't aiming to reinvent Tormore's flavour profile but refine it. He wants to come as close as possible to replicating the flavors he loved in older Tormores matured in American oak. He compares Tormore new make spirit to a dessert: 'I came to think of Tormore as kind of like a peach tart, it's very classy. You've got lots of stone fruit.' He wants richness and careful layering of aroma and flavour without losing Tormore's core identity. 'We're not Glenfarclas. We're not Macallan. We're not heavy, we're not weighty. We are pretty and elegant." Plans for Tormore's Future
Next year, Tormore will debut the core range for which the Blueprint series is a teaser.
Chilton is cautious but optimistic: 'We will definitely release two core range whiskies. There might be three ready. There might even be five ready. We'll see.'
In terms of infrastructure, more changes are on the horizon. 'We'll be putting in new vatting tanks this year. Towards the end of this year, the plan is to build another warehouse because we're going to run out of space,' he says. This expansion reflects not just increased output but also a commitment to controlling every part of the production and maturation process.
The long-term dream includes a visitor centre, but logistical hurdles remain. As Chilton puts it, stopping production for long enough to build new facilities isn't easy when you're already running near capacity. Still, the intention is there, and the groundwork is being laid.
Perhaps one of the most telling developments is that everything is now done onsite—from filling casks to blending and warehousing. That's a big shift from the Pernod Ricard days, when infrastructure was minimal and much of the work relied on outsourcing.
Tormore's revival under Elixir Distillers hasn't been rushed—and that's a good thing. The approach here has been methodical, grounded in the reality of running a large working distillery while also reshaping its identity. It's not about turning Tormore into the next cult single malt, but about giving it a voice of its own.
The Blueprint whiskies are an important first step. They show where things are headed without over-promising. Its eventual core range will all be built on the same quiet, steady progress that's defined the last couple years.
In a whisky world often chasing novelty, Tormore's approach and vision is refreshing, and for whisky lovers represents a fantastic and tasty opportunity to appreciate its new chapter.
