Islay distillery reveals plans for new visitor centre
Caol Ila Distillery opened its doors to local residents this month to give them the first look at plans to transform the visitor experience.
The Islay distillery is one of the key locations in plans to invest £150 million in single malt and Johnnie Walker Scotch whisky tourist attractions across Scotland, and will see significant upgrading of the distillery’s visitor centre.
Residents were welcomed to the distillery on Wednesday October 3 and were the first to see the outline plans, which will allow them to give feedback before plans are submitted for planning approval.
Under the plans, the new stateof-the-art visitor experience will be created inside the Caol Ila warehouse, including a bar with stunning views across the Sound of Islay. The visitor centre will be entered via a footbridge into the roof of the warehouse, linking to new parking facilities on the hill above the distillery, which will be discreetly located and carefully landscaped to manage visual impact and traffic movement.
Pierrick Guillaume, Caol Ila Distillery manager, said: ‘We are very excited about the ambitious plans to transform the visitor experience at Caol Ila with this investment. A lot of careful thought has been put into the plans to ensure we minimise any impact on the local community.
‘It was great to welcome local residents to the distillery and to share our plans with them first and to get their input. We look forward to working with the community and stakeholders as we progress the plans.’
The planning application for the distillery is expected to be submitted to Argyll and Bute Council before the end of the year and, subject to planning permission being granted, work should commence in 2019.
Whisky from Diageo’s distilleries all over Scotland contribute to Johnnie Walker, but four distilleries – Caol Ila, Glenkinchie, Cardhu and Clynelish – will be linked directly to a new Johnnie Walker global visitor experience in Edinburgh, representing the four corners of Scotland and the regional flavour variations crucial to the art of whisky blending.
Together, these sites will create a unique Johnnie Walker tour of Scotland, encouraging visitors to the capital city to also travel to the country’s rural communities. Diageo’s other single malt distillery visitor centres across Scotland will also receive investment in their visitor experiences as part of the programme.