The rise of the phoenix distillery

The whitewashed walls of Port Ellen’s coastal warehouses welcome visitors to the island of Islay. Until recently, they were silent memorials to one of Scotland’s most iconic distilleries. ‘People on the island remember the distillery closing because it was such a difficult time for the industry,’ says Ewan Gunn, global brand ambassador for Diageo, Port Ellen’s owner. ‘There is real, genuine excitement that it’s coming back.’

Built in 1824 on Islay’s south coast, Port Ellen was an early centre for innovation, often credited as being home to the first spirit safe (used for measuring alcoholic strength and temperature as spirit leaves the still) and early trials of continuous distillation. Like many distilleries, it experienced intermittent periods of operation (it was mothballed for 37 years in 1930 following Prohibition), with its distinctively smoky, oily whisky primarily finding a home in blends. The infamous whisky loch of the 1980s hit Islay hard, and in 1983 Port Ellen closed for what seemed like the final time.

Its diminishing stocks of single malt found a fanbase among collectors and Scotch enthusiasts, with limited annual releases going for thousands of pounds. An increasing curiosity for luxury whisky prompted Diageo in 2017 to announce the reopening of both Brora and Port Ellen distilleries. Now, following a multimillion-pound restoration, Islay’s last remaining ghost distillery has arisen with an entirely fresh look. ‘We’re not trying to replicate what Port Ellen was when it closed,’ explains distillery manager Ali McDonald. ‘This is a modern Port Ellen, a rebirth.’

The new, carbon-neutral distillery features an ultra-modern design with a glass-fronted still house offering views across the bay to Carraig Fhada Lighthouse. Its stills are an exact replica of those used in 1983, designed to emulate Port Ellen’s famously fruity, oily and tarry new-make spirit.

The distillery is a temple of innovation. As well as those two main phoenix stills, Port Ellen houses two smaller experimental stills attached to a revolutionary ten-part spirit safe, allowing for an intricate focus on extracting different characteristics from the spirit. It all feels very new age sci-fi for a Scottish island, until you remember Port Ellen’s roots.

The visitor experience is like nothing Islay has seen before. The visitor centre, which feels like a postmodern design museum, is adorned with eye-catching sculptures by various commissioned artists – from Lucy May Schofield’s handmade, dyed washi-paper installation, to Harry Morgan’s concrete and – glass plinths, inspired by the Islay coastline. Meanwhile, the former kiln has been stylishly transformed into a futuristic multimedia tasting room and sample library that will eventually house hundreds of bottles of Port Ellen’s experiments.

Beyond producing whisky again, Scotland’s phoenix distilleries are breathing new life into their communities, which are set to benefit from increased tourism and spend. For Leonard Russell, managing director of Ian Macleod, which owns Tamdhu and Glengoyne distilleries, the resurrection of Rosebank as a distillery and tourist attraction will bring prosperity to Falkirk. Rosebank has never been open to the public before. Visitors would have been seen as an unnecessary interruption to the stillman and mashman,’ Russell explains. ‘Falkirk already has the Kelpies and the Wheel – and now Rosebank too. Hopefully we’ll attract a bit more tourism to the area.’

Known as the king of the Lowlands, Rosebank has been a Falkirk landmark since its construction on the banks of the Forth & Clyde Canal in 1840. Unlike Port Ellen, the distillery ran continuously (bar a brief wartime hiatus), producing a uniquely fragrant yet weighty single malt. However, in 1993 it was deemed surplus to requirements and left to languish.

‘When I first joined the industry, we went through a bit of a trough. I remember a lot of distilleries closing – in some cases repurposed into shopping centres or blocks of flats,’ says Russell. ‘Rosebank had an iconic name, and I always thought it was a bit unfair that it closed in the first place.’

In 2017, Ian Macleod purchased the decaying building and remaining stocks of Rosebank, setting out plans to resurrect the ghost distillery. ‘The distillery was in a terrible state,’ recalls Russell. ‘It was full of copulating pigeons, and it was a very sad, eerie place to walk into. I don’t believe in ghosts, but if they exist there were quite a few in there.’

It took seven years – navigating a global pandemic, dealing with crumbling walls and going ‘horrifically over budget’ – to bring Rosebank back to life. Creative yet sympathetic architecture has transformed the site, converting the former warehouse and maltings into a visitor centre and six tasting rooms. A modern glass-fronted still house provides views of the gleaming copper stills from both the roadside and the canal.

Although the aim is to recreate the style of spirit that has made Rosebank an iconic name, distillery manager Malcolm Rennie describes the new iteration as a ‘modern-day reimagining of what the old Rosebank would have been’. Its first spirit was filled into cask in July 2023, 30 years after closing, signalling a new era for the much-loved distillery. It will be some time before any mature whisky is ready to taste. In the meantime, Rosebank’s existing mature whiskies are becoming ever scarcer.

Up in Sutherland, Brora welcomed visitors for the first time in its history in 2021. Originally built in 1819, the distillery – named Clynelish until 1975 – went through several periods of operation and closure, its single malt gaining cult status alongside both Port Ellen and Rosebank during its most recent mothballing. Unlike those of Port Ellen and Rosebank, Brora’s restoration has been entirely faithful. ‘Our whole ambition is almost as if the door closed yesterday and it’s just reopened,’ former master blender Jim Beveridge explained at the time. Although Brora’s identifiably fat, fruity and subtly smoky whisky officially comes of age this year, having rested for the minimum three years in barrel, fans will be waiting quite a while before it is released in bottle.

When it’s cheaper and easier to build a brand-new distillery, what makes the draw of resurrecting a phoenix distillery so alluring? ‘It’s all about love,’ says Russell. ‘My heart was set on Rosebank. Also, I’m a little bit mad and slightly eccentric.’

Visiting Scotch whisky’s ghost distilleries