Our Own Distillery

Last Wednesday dawned dull but with the promise of sunshine later, so we set off early, heading into the hills at the back of Ormsaigbeg. With the news of the failure of Adelphi Distillery Ltd to obtain planning permission for its whisky distillery at Glen Beg pending a site inspection by Highland Councillors, it seemed appropriate to have a third attempt at investigating Lag a' Choire, 'the corrie of the still', an area marked on the OS map to the west of Kilchoan Fire Station.

We approached from the south, coming at the area across the hill called Stacan Dubha. We had assumed that the site for the whisky still was somewhere in this open bowl of land, but Davie Ferguson, the manager at Ardnamurchan Lighthouse, had told us that the site was probably higher on the hill to the west. The OS map isn't at all helpful, the words 'Lag a' Choire' being written across a spur of the hill.

The land rises quickly here across open hillside to the peaks of Beinn na Seilg. No-one setting up an illicit whisky still would site it in such an exposed place - any more than they would have put it in the open field near the road - as they would have been far too visible to the Excise men.

However, tucked into the lower slopes is a small valley which looked promising.

This little glen seemed ideal for the purpose. Despite the recent dry weather its stream was running, it had trees for the fire, boulders on which to set up the still, there were several places which were wonderfully enclosed, and, finally, there were peaks all around from which a watch could be kept. So we think that this is where the illicit still used to be set up.

We even found an arrangement of rocks where the still could have stood. So we sat there in the warm sunshine and wondered why Adelphi had bothered with all the trouble of seeking planning permission, of site visits and SEPA reports, of architects and wildlife impact assessments - and the knowledge that, if they ever do get the Glen Beg distillery off the ground, they'll be plagued by the Excise and VAT inspectors, and the main beneficiary will probably be HM Revenue. So, instead of a 'boutique' distillery at Glen Beg, why don't they restart the 'bijou' illicit still on the lower slopes of Beinn na Seilg?

A map showing the location of Lag a' Choire is here.

See Iain Thornber's article in this month's De the Dol?