Lagg Whisky: The Places Behind the Names
There are two things we’re incredibly proud of here at Lagg: Our whisky, and where we’re from. Arran is a special place, and the southend of the island has a particularly rich history of distilling.
The beaches and villages in Arran’s south were the backdrop of the island’s legal and illicit whisky industries. For hundreds of years, whisky-making was the lifeblood for local farmers in these parts. They made their own spirits in small, home stills—trading what became famously known as “Arran Water”. When the Scottish Government introduced heavy taxes on the spirit, distillers smuggled their wares from the southend shores, and crossed over to the mainland to sell (regardless of legality).
We chose to build our distillery in this region for the strong ties it has with the art of making whisky. With access to official written records and court documents from centuries gone-by, we’ve taken inspiration from historic places to name our expressions. It’s our small way of paying homage to the whisky-makers of Arran’s past.
With such a rich cultural history in the south end of Arran, it would have seemed like a waste not to put the beautiful villages and landmarks front and centre of the whisky.
—Graham Omand, our Distillery Manager at Lagg
The history behind the name: Lagg
Lagg comes from the Gaelic word “Lag” meaning “hollow”. Here on Arran, it’s a small hamlet that sits at the bottom of a valley, with a main road, a few houses, a hotel and pub and a distillery nearby (that’s us).
However, we weren’t the first distillery to exist in this corner of the island. Hundreds of years ago, the original Lagg Distillery operated just a mile down the road from where we are today.
At the time, Arran’s distilleries struggled to compete with the larger distilleries on the mainland , as quantity became more valuable than quality. And after two out of the three distilleries on Arran shut down, Lagg was the last dram standing. Eventually it collapsed under the pressure, and when it closed its doors in the 1840s, there wouldn’t be another legal distillery on the island for over 150 years.
The history behind the name: Kilmory Edition
In the history of whisky smuggling, Kilmory is known for the tragic whisky killings of 1817. On the 25th of March, William McKinnon and his son Donald sailed from the southend with a cargo of illicit whisky. After sailing a short distance, they noticed some excisemen observing them and immediately turned back to the shore. As the officers surrounded them on the beach, a group of local people gathered in protest. When tensions heightened, the excisemen fired nine shots into the crowd. Three people died that day, including William, Donald and a woman called Isobel Nicol.
Kilmory was also known as the hotbed of whisky smuggling on the island. Due to its proximity to the mainland, most of Arran’s illicit distillers set sail from these wind-battered shores in the dead of night.
Lagg Single Malt: Kilmory Edition
Our Kilmory Edition has notes of vanilla and citrus with a puff of smoke. It embodies the signature Lagg style—a peated single malt, matured in bourbon barrels.
The history behind the name: Corriecravie Edition
Robert Armour owned a plumbing and coppersmith business in Campbelltown. Out front, he appeared to be a regular businessman, but behind the scenes, he was building stills for Arran’s illicit whisky distillers.
Years later, long after Robert was gone, renovations were taking place in the building that housed his workshop. Hidden in the walls, builders found records of the people who bought Robert’s illicit stills and where they were from.
We know from these records that a still existed in Corriecravie. Tenant farmer, Robert Black, purchased a still from Armour’s coppersmiths on the 15th of June 1812.
Lagg Single Malt: Corriecravie Edition
Matured initially in bourbon barrels before being finished for approximately 6 months in oloroso sherry hogsheads, this is a rich, sweet, peated malt with a full-bodied character.
Our two flagship core range whiskies are named after villages that surround the distillery and are the home to a large number of our staff. Both villages have a long past of illicit distilling and a whisky heritage and we are proud to carry the names of our southend home on our bottles.
Kilmory reflects the house style of the distillery characteristic. It is sweet, peat and grass. Full of citrus and earthy smoke it is a vibrant and zesty dram. While Corriecravie shows the other side of the coin with the sherry influence providing a darker, richer and more hazelnut chocolate element to the whisky.
—Fred Baumgärtner, our Brand Home Ambassador
There’s so much to learn about our wee island’s history. And we’re proud to carry on an age-old tradition of making whisky in the heartland of “Arran Water”.
Dive deeper into fascinating stories of illicit stills, excisemen and historic distilling practices in our “Arran Water: Tours, Tales and Drams” experience.