Isle Of Harris Distillery To Release Its Historic First Whisky

Isle of Harris Distillers Ltd. is proud to announce the release date for its long-awaited Single Malt Scotch Whisky, The Hearach, named after the Scottish Gaelic name for a native of Harris.

A private event to celebrate 'the first dram' at the distillery in Tarbert will be live-streamed at harrisdistillery.com/behere on Friday 22nd September 2023 at 13.00 BST. A village cèilidh with live music and dancing will take place in the local community centre on the Friday evening and the whisky will be available at the event and in village bars from 19.00 that night.

The Hearach Single Malt will then go on sale from 10.00 BST on Saturday 23rd September 2023 at the distillery shop and from the online store at www.harrisdistillery.com before being made available in specialist stores across the UK and globally in October. 

The whisky is the first legal dram from the island and every drop has been distilled, matured, married, and bottled in Harris by the local men and women of the distillery.

The Hearach has been strongly influenced by its Outer Hebridean island home and will be a spirit of complexity and character. The bottle, which has been designed by the world-leading agency Stranger & Stranger, will not be revealed until The Hearach is released in September. 

Managing director Simon Erlanger says: "It’s been 15 years since Burr Bakewell formed the Isle of Harris Distillery Company. We’ve always said that the whisky would be ready when it’s ready, so it’s a big moment to finally announce a launch date, which will be the distillery’s 8th birthday. Back then, we hosted the biggest ceilidh the island had seen- at this one we’ll have a historic dram to toast the island with!"

Executive Chairman and CFO Ron MacEachran says: "The Hearach’s launch, 8 years after the distillery opened, is a wonderful tribute to the efforts and support of so many people – the designers and builders of the distillery, the countless people from the island community and beyond who have supported us in different ways over the years, our investors who supported a long term vision of regeneration predicated on the creation of a distinctive whisky and – above all – the wonderful team who have brought the distillery to life and, notwithstanding the many challenges, have remained passionately focused on achieving product and service quality – now embodied in The Hearach single malt.”

The first seven bottles were hand-filled at an informal gathering at the distillery on Wednesday 24th with the original seven founding staff having the honour. The distillery now employs more than 40 full-time employees.

For more information, please visit www.harrisdistillery.com/behere