Ardross Distillery, Easter Ross: A Quiet Newcomer

Overview

Ardross is one of the newest distilleries in the Highlands. It was built in restored 19th-century farm buildings at Ardross Mains, in the hills above Alness in Easter Ross, and began making whisky in late 2019. It is a serious project rather than a hobby. The whole enterprise, including a bonded warehouse near Glasgow, cost around £50 million. It is led by master blender Andrew Rankin under the name Greenwood Distillers. Alongside its Highland single malt, still maturing, Ardross makes a Pictish-themed gin called Theodore.

It is not open to visitors. It is worth knowing about, though, because it sits in one of the richest corners of the north. Dalmore and Teaninich are a few miles downhill at Alness, Glenmorangie and Balblair are across the Dornoch Firth country, and the hills are full of Munro and Ross history and Pictish carved stones.

Where it is

Ardross is a scattered estate parish about 4 miles north-west of Alness, on the minor road (the B9176 “Struie” road and the Strathrusdale lanes) that climbs from the Cromarty Firth into the moorland behind. It’s around 30 miles north of Inverness, about 40 minutes by the A9. The distillery uses the old steadings of Ardross Mains farm, part of the Victorian estate that grew up around Ardross Castle.

The full history

The Ardross estate

The land here has a long history. Ardross was Ross and Munro country for centuries. It was transformed in the 1840s, when Sir Alexander Matheson, made rich by the Far East trading house Jardine Matheson, bought the estate. He built Ardross Castle in the Scottish Baronial style, laid out plantations and model farms, and built the solid stone steadings that the distillery now uses. The estate’s farm buildings were derelict by the time the distillery project began.

2015–2019: building a distillery

Andrew Rankin began the project at Ardross Mains in December 2015. Planning permission followed in February 2017, and building started that November on a 50-acre site. Before work began, the architects, NoRR, commissioned a photographic survey to record the derelict buildings. The old stone steadings were restored and new distillation buildings added alongside them. The first gin, Theodore, was released in autumn 2019, and whisky production began late that year.

A first at Christie’s

In December 2021 Ardross made auction history. Its new-make spirit, the clear spirit straight off the still before any ageing, became the first new make ever auctioned in cask at Christie’s. It was a sign of how much attention the whisky world was paying to the new wave of Highland distilleries. Ardross single malt is still maturing, so watch theardross.com for its first official releases.

The Picts & the Theodore gin

The gin’s Pictish theme is not a marketing invention. Two of the finest Pictish carvings found in the Highlands came from Ardross. These are the Ardross Wolf and the Ardross Deer, two incised slabs now kept in Inverness Museum. Easter Ross was a Pictish heartland. The great cross-slabs of Hilton of Cadboll, Shandwick and Nigg stand on the Tarbat peninsula, about half an hour east. Our standing stones guide covers the wider story.

Clans & the land

Ardross was built by a modern company, not a clan. The hills around it, though, were contested for centuries:

• Clan Munro held the lands between the Cromarty Firth and Ben Wyvis from Foulis Castle, near Evanton, five miles south-west. The Munro chiefs were famous soldiers, and the Fyrish Monument above Alness was built by a Munro general, Sir Hector Munro of Novar.
• Clan Ross, the old Earls of Ross, ruled Easter Ross from Balnagown and gave the county its name. Ardross means “height of Ross”.
• Clan Mackenzie pressed in from the west. Tradition says Munro and Dingwall men beat western clansmen, Mackenzie septs among them, at the Battle of Bealach nam Broig, in a pass above Loch Glass below Ben Wyvis.
• The Mathesons came later. Sir Alexander Matheson’s purchase in the 1840s created the estate and buildings you see today.

Water & lochs

The distillery draws its water from Loch Dubh, “the black loch”, a small hill loch on the estate. The wider Ardross hills hold a scatter of lochs, including Loch Morie and, to the west below Ben Wyvis, Loch Glass. Loch Morie is the source of the River Averon (Alness River), which runs down through Ardross to the Cromarty Firth. Dalmore and Teaninich sit at the bottom of that same river system. For Scotland’s bigger waters, see our lochs guide.

Churches & landmarks

• Fyrish Monument, above Evanton: a copy of the gates of Negapatam in India, built in 1782 by Sir Hector Munro to give local people work. The walk up is about 2 hours return, with huge views over the Cromarty Firth.
• Kiltearn Old Church, by the shore near Evanton: the ruined parish church and burial ground of the Munro chiefs.
• Ardross Castle: Matheson’s baronial house. It is private, but you can glimpse it from the road.

How it’s made

Ardross runs one wash still and one spirit still, with a capacity of around 1 million litres a year, alongside a separate gin still. The aim is a Highland single malt matured partly on site and partly in the company’s bonded warehouse in the Central Belt. Because it is so new, the house style is still emerging. Watch the official site for the first bottlings.

Visiting

Ardross is production only, with no visitor centre and no public tours. Please don’t drive up to the farm. For distillery tours nearby, Dalmore at Alness (10 minutes) and Glenmorangie at Tain (25 minutes) are the obvious choices. Our Easter Ross Whisky Trail strings them together.

Nearby distilleries

• Teaninich, Alness (about 4 miles): the Munro laird’s distillery of 1817.
• Dalmore, Alness (about 5 miles): the stag’s head on the Cromarty Firth, with tours.
• GlenWyvis, Dingwall (about 12 miles): the community-owned distillery.
• Glenmorangie, Tain (about 15 miles): the tall stills.
• Balblair, Edderton (about 15 miles over the Struie road).
• Glen Ord, Muir of Ord (about 20 miles south).

The whisky hub covers every region.

Sources

• Ardross distillery — Wikipedia.
• The Ardross Distillery, official site.
• Historic Environment Scotland / Canmore on the Ardross Pictish stones and Fyrish.