23-04-2025
- Business
- The Herald Scotland
Scotch whisky distiller reveals new boss as launch nears
The Austrian entrepreneur, who has held a majority shareholding in the distillery since 2021, has succeeded Martin McAdam, an engineer by background who has steered the project through its construction.
Asked why he had moved into the chief executive hot-seat, Mr Grain, who runs a drinks distribution company in his native Austria, felt it was important to oversee the initial production phase at the distillery, when cash flow is critical.
And he revealed that the ultimate overall investment in the distillery will be close to £30 million, around double the outlay initially forecast after costs soared during the construction process.
'Not everything [has been] spent on the distillery itself,' Mr Grain told The Herald. 'It is a former farm building, so we had to renovate houses [and build] visitor centre areas. We have also invested in a gin distillery, which is working or Blackwoods Gin. We have also already bought a lot of casks, which is part of the investment.'
'It's 100% more [investment] than we believed.'
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Mr Grain explained why costs had soared during the development of the distillery, with the price of energy and other inputs having risen sharply in the wake of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. He said this necessitated the investment a further £2m in energy efficiency projects 'because the payback is so fast'. 'Now it [energy cost] is a little bit lower after we spent the money," Mr Grain said.
'Also, the production costs are higher than planned. The cheap days of whisky producing have been over for some time.'
Now construction of the distillery is complete, Mr Grain said whisky making will be restored to the Inverclyde area for the first time since the Second World War 'any day now'.
'We are commissioning through everything currently and fixing the last, final steps," he said. "In the coming weeks, the first distillation will [take place].'
While some new distilleries release new-make whisky as soon as they are able to, even if just to satisfy collectors, Ardgowan will be taking its time. Mr Grain explained the company will be using Infinity Casks, which are 'relatively large and lead to longer maturation times'.
'We [will] try to release our whisky when it is ready, but at a higher age than a normal distillery," he said.
"The Infinity Cask will most probably only mature after about 15 years. We are really aiming for the long run."
Whisky lovers may be interested to hear about Ardgowan's cask policy. Mr Grain noted that, in contrast to the majority of Scotch whisky distillers, Ardgowan will exclusively mature its spirit in European oak, 90% of which will be sherry barrels.
(Image: Ardgowan Distillery) Stills are put into position at the new Ardgowan Distillery
He said: 'We will have a higher proportion of older whiskies than most of the other distilleries due to the Infinity Cask. It will make a difference, and we are the only whisky start-up ever who has laid down casks long before the distillery was even built to season these casks with sherry in Spain.
'We have, already, for the first three to four years of production, laid down these casks in Spain. It is all European oak, and this is also extremely unique – 90% of the casks used, or even more, in the Scotch whisky industry are ex-bourbon. We will be 100% European oak, and sherry for 90%. It is quite outstanding and a huge commitment money-wise in this project, and a huge commitment to quality.'
The casks are housed in Sanlucar de Barrameda, in the heart of the sherry-making region of Spain. 'Luckily we found a warehouse which is the same distance to the sea, like the [Ardgowan] distillery is to the sea," Mr Grain said. "And we will have laid down [in] only dunnage warehouses – we have a dunnage warehouse for seasoning, and a dunnage warehouse for maturing. It is quite nice too.'
As Ardgowan gears up to begin production, the company has been releasing a range of blended malts under the Clydebuilt range to generate income and to build up a distribution network for the eventual release of its own single malt. Six whiskies have so far been released under the Clydebuilt brand, which Mr Grain said are 'really good quality and represent the direction our whisky will go, so it is heavily sherried'.
Given Ardgowan is still in the process of building up its distribution network, Mr Grain said there is currently no impact on business from US President Donald Trump's controversial tariff policy. But he said the 'major problem with tariffs' is their variability under Mr Trump. 'One day you read in the newspaper it is 20%, the next day it is 100%, then it's 80%, then it's nothing,' he said. 'It makes life really difficult.'
He added that tariffs were 'hurting' smaller and younger distillers more than their more established and bigger counterparts. Mr Grain said 'When the distillery is new, its costs of production are higher. You need to sell more non-age statement whiskies in the early stage. All of the business plans of the newer distilleries are showing a quite high price, but they are non-age statement whiskies. This makes life currently very difficult."
