By Lucy Ashton
Levenbank Distillery proudly celebrated its official launch this weekend with a joyful celebration that marked a significant milestone in the return of whisky-making to the region.
The event was headlined by a special appearance from Robert Robertson and Fergus Munro from the popular Scottish band Tidelines, who had the honour of cutting the ceremonial ribbon to formally open the distillery.
Guests were piped through to the ribbon-cutting by Callan MacEachern, son of the distillery’s founders, adding a heartfelt, family touch to the day’s festivities.
Levenbank Distillery is the latest venture from husband-and-wife team Euan and Fiona MacEachern, the passionate owners of the multi award-winning Loch Lomond Brewery.
Drawing on their deep expertise in brewing, the MacEacherns are bringing a unique flavour-forward approach to whisky-making, creating bold, characterful spirit from day one.
This has been a dream in the making for a long time,” said Euan MacEachern. “With our background in brewing, we’ve always believed that the foundations of great whisky are laid in the early stages of production. We’re excited to bring that philosophy to life here at Levenbank.”
Although the official ribbon-cutting took place this weekend, Levenbank has already begun distilling earlier this year. At the event, a number of investors had the opportunity to sign or fill the casks they had purchased, cementing their personal connection to the distillery’s journey from the very beginning.
“This isn’t just the start of a distillery, it’s the start of a community,” added Fiona MacEachern. “We’re incredibly grateful to everyone who’s supported us, from family and friends to our investors and local partners.”
Levenbank Distillery looks forward to welcoming visitors in the coming months, sharing its journey as the spirit matures.
Through the collaboration, co-founder and head brewer of Northern Monk Brian Dickson will visit Levenbank and Loch Lomond Brewery to brew an imperial stout that will be made into three products.
Through two of the products it will remain beer, released in its original form and as an oloroso cask-aged imperial stout.
The third release will be a “beer-to-whisky” project, through which the stout recipe will be distilled into single grain Scotch whisky and be matured for a planned three to four years in the same casks as the cask-aged stout.
Head brewer/distiller and company director Euan MacEachern said: “We are delighted to be partnering with Northern Monk on the first of our beer to whisky exploration projects.
“It marks the beginning of a wider initiative to explore the relationship between brewing and distilling through collaborations with leading craft brewers.”
MacEachern added that the distillery plans to experiment with distilling further styles of beer into whisky, in order to demonstrate that “the style of beer, or wash as it’s known in the whisky world, has a significant influence on the flavour of the whisky”.
Dickson added: “At Northern Monk, we’ve always been passionate about pushing the boundaries of what beer can be and this collaboration is a perfect example of that.
“Working with Levenbank/Loch Lomond Brewery to create an imperial stout designed to be drunk fresh as a beer, and also to be barrel-aged and used for whisky making, is an incredible opportunity to explore the relationship between brewing and distilling.
“We can’t wait to see how the rich, bold flavours of the imperial stout evolve through the distillation and cask-ageing process into something truly special.”