Lochlea Distillery, Ayrshire: Whisky from Robert Burns’s Farm

Overview

Lochlea makes whisky on the farm where Robert Burns lived and worked from 1777 to 1784, between the ages of 18 and 25. In those years he wrote some of his earliest poems and founded a debating club in nearby Tarbolton. Owners Neil and Jen McGeoch, who came to the farm in 2006, switched it from beef cattle to malting barley. They built a single-estate distillery that grows its own grain, at a cost of about £6 million. Production is led by John Campbell, formerly of Laphroaig. The first whisky sold out within a day in January 2022.

Where it is

Lochlea farm lies in the rolling country of central Ayrshire, about 2 miles north of Tarbolton and 4 miles west of Mauchline. Ayr is about 9 miles south-west, Kilmarnock about 8 miles north, and Glasgow about 30 miles, around 45 minutes by the M77.

The full history

Burns at Lochlea, 1777–1784

William Burnes, the poet’s father, rented Lochlea in 1777. For seven years Robert worked the heavy wet ground with his brother Gilbert. In 1780 he co-founded the Bachelors’ Club debating society in Tarbolton, and he became a Freemason there in 1781. The farm ended in a ruinous legal dispute with the landlord. William Burnes died at Lochlea in 1784, worn out, and the brothers moved to Mossgiel near Mauchline. There Burns wrote the poems that made him famous.

From beef to barley

The McGeochs bought the farm in 2006 and ran it as a beef farm. Their idea was to grow barley on the same fields Burns had ploughed and make whisky from it. Construction began in 2017, and the distillery is usually dated to 2018. The farm now grows its own barley for malting, and the distillery describes itself as a single-estate distillery.

First release and the Ploughing Edition

Lochlea’s inaugural “First Release” came out in January 2022, timed for Burns Night, and sold out within 24 hours. Our Barley, the core single malt, followed. The Ploughing Edition appeared in 2023, the first peated Lochlea, with further editions named after the farming seasons.

How it’s made

Barley grown on the estate is malted and then mashed, fermented and distilled in copper pot stills on the farm. The aim is a fruity, fresh Lowland malt with character from the farm’s own grain. John Campbell’s years at Laphroaig show in the peated releases.

Clans, poets & patriots

• The Campbells of Loudoun. North-east, around Galston, the lands of Loudoun belonged to the Campbell Earls of Loudoun. See Clan Campbell.
• Bruce at Loudoun Hill. In 1307, about 12 miles east, Robert the Bruce won his first major victory over the English at the Battle of Loudoun Hill. See Clan Bruce.
• Wallace country. Ayrshire is full of William Wallace legends. Tradition links him to Riccarton, near Kilmarnock, and to Ayr’s Barns, which he is said to have burned.
• The Covenanters. Ayrshire was the heart of the Covenanting cause, and its kirkyards hold many martyrs’ graves.

Burns sites, churches & lochs

• The Bachelors’ Club, Tarbolton (National Trust for Scotland): the 17th-century house where Burns’s debating club met and where he took dancing lessons.
• Mauchline: the Burns House Museum, Poosie Nansie’s tavern, and the kirkyard where several of Burns’s children are buried.
• Alloway, about 12 miles south-west: Burns Cottage, the poet’s birthplace, the Burns Monument and Alloway Auld Kirk from Tam o’ Shanter.
• The name Lochlea suggests an old loch on the farm, long since drained. For lochs today, Loch Doon is about 25 miles south. See our lochs guide and standing stones guide.

Visiting

Lochlea offers booked tours and tastings on the farm. Book on lochleadistillery.com. Pair it with the Bachelors’ Club in Tarbolton and the Burns sites in Mauchline and Alloway.

Nearby distilleries

• Jackton, East Kilbride (about 25 miles): another farm distillery.
• Ailsa Bay, Girvan (about 30 miles).
• Arran, Lochranza, by ferry from Ardrossan (about 20 miles to the ferry).
• The Glasgow distilleries (about 30 miles), on our Glasgow & Clyde Whisky Trail.
• Annandale (about 70 miles).

The Southern Scotland Whisky Trail and the whisky hub cover the region.

Sources

• Lochlea distillery — Wikipedia.
• Lochlea: From Burns to Barley.
• Scotch Whisky magazine: Robert Burns farm to become distillery.
• National Trust for Scotland (Bachelors’ Club, Burns Cottage).