FROM BURNS TO BARLEY
Lochlea was a cattle farm when we originally acquired it in 2006. Extending some 222 acres, we realised that for a farm of that size to be viable we needed to do something very different.
Barley had historically been grown on the farm land, largely as livestock feed, so in 2015 we embarked on an experiment, growing 50 acres of malting barley.
Working away quietly, learning from our (not too frequent) mistakes, exploring the possibilities and making contacts in the malting industry gave us the confidence to make a big decision: we’d develop and operate a single malt distillery here at Lochlea.
Construction got underway in 2017, converting the former piggery, byre and midden in the heart of the farm steading into the distillery, and repurposing the cattle sheds into bonded warehouses. We secured all our licences in 2018, and the distillery was commissioned in August 2018.
Since then, we have been growing our barley, and the distillery team have been skillfully and patiently making spirit.
The land at Lochlea is important, and not just to the distinctive taste of our whisky. This was the land that Robert Burns tended when he lived at Lochlea Farm, inspiring his thinking and development as a poet. Burns toiled the same soil that we are privileged to grow our malting barley in today.
WHISKY IS HERE
Our single malt scotch whisky has been a labour of love for years. We’re not cutting any corners here. Everything we do, from our wooden washbacks to our on-site racked warehouse, is focused on producing the highest quality spirit possible. Forget your preconceptions about Lowland whisky, Lochlea is different. Using our own barley unique to Lochlea, nurturing a long fermentation and being meticulous with our cut points creates a new make bursting with orchard fruit and elegant beyond its years.
WHAT MAKES US DIFFERENT
As an independent family-owned distillery - now a rare thing in our industry - we can approach our small-batch whisky making in an innovative, flexible and responsive way, without the constraints of a large corporate structure. By using our own barley grown on the farm and our on-site water source, we have full traceability over the ingredients going into our process, allowing us a higher level of quality control and creating a flavour profile unique to Lochlea. Our location offers the best of both worlds. Nestled in the heart of Ayrshire, we have beautiful rolling hills all around, yet are easily accessible from many of the major towns and cities in Scotland. Head north, and you’re in Glasgow in 30 minutes, south west and several scenic seaside towns along the coast. We are also the only distillery in the world who can rightfully claim that Robert Burns himself lived and worked here. He spent his formative years from 1777-1784 at Lochlea, and we are proud to work those same fields today 240 years on.
