Abhainn Dearg Distillery, Lewis: Scotland’s Westernmost Malt

Overview

Abhainn Dearg (“the Red River”), out at Uig on the wild west of the Isle of Lewis, is the most westerly distillery in Scotland — and one of the most gloriously remote. A tiny, hand-built, off-grid-feeling operation, it revived legal distilling on Lewis after well over a century.

The history

Abhainn Dearg was founded in 2008 by Mark “Marko” Tayburn, a local man who built the distillery largely by hand at Carnish in Uig — the first legal distillery on Lewis since the 19th century. Its stills are unusual, tall and steeply-tapered, modelled on an old illicit design; production is minuscule and fiercely local.

The water & the land

Abhainn Dearg takes its water from Loch Raonasgail, feeding the Red River that gives the distillery its name.

Lewis was the medieval territory of the MacLeods of Lewis (the Sìol Torcail), later passing to the Mackenzies (Earls of Seaforth) and then the Matheson family — and the Uig district was one of the areas emptied in the 19th-century Clearances, giving this remote distillery a poignant setting.

Visiting

Abhainn Dearg is a small, remote distillery offering tours and tastings by arrangement — informal and seasonal, so contact ahead; check the website. The drive out to Uig, past the beaches where the Lewis Chessmen were found, is spectacular.

Nearby & more whisky

• Neighbouring Harris: Isle of Harris
• Islands — the region overview
• The whole picture: Scotch whisky — the full guide

Sources

• Abhainn Dearg distillery — Wikipedia.
• Abhainn Dearg Distillery.