Sustainable Scotch whisky producer Ardnamurchan Distillery has announced a new strategic partnership with global travel retail and duty free specialist GMAX Travel Retail. The collaboration represents a significant milestone in the distillery’s continued growth, creating new international routes to market and bringing its coastal whisky to travelers worldwide.
Sustainability sits at the core of Ardnamurchan Distillery’s operations. Powered entirely by renewable energy, including hydro-electric power from the river behind the distillery and solar panels on its warehouses, Ardnamurchan was also the first Scottish distillery to use locally sourced woodchip for all heat and steam requirements. Production co-products are repurposed into animal feed for local farms, while unnecessary packaging has been eliminated and bottles are made from a high proportion of recycled glass. This “lightest touch” approach to distilling reflects a genuine commitment to a circular economy and was recognized with the title of Global Sustainable Distillery of the Year 2024.
The distillery has created Ardnamurchan Fascadale Highland Single Malt specially for travel retail. At 50% ABV, this whisky is a marriage of peated and unpeated spirit, matured in its traditional dunnage warehouses. Non-chill filtered and naturally colored, Fascadale’s coastal character is unmistakable, with tasting notes of sea spray, citrus peel, and marshmallows, layered with a wisp of peat smoke, in a rich, oily texture, says the company.
“We are very excited to be working with Alex and the fantastic team at Ardnamurchan and to be introducing such a special exclusive Whisky to GTR. We feel this is the perfect fit for Travel Retail with a unique and sustainable product from such a special part of Scotland. Ardnamurchan have such strong values in producing whisky the right way and after the GMAX team visited the fabulous distillery we knew we had the right partners. It is also special to have the exceptional expertise of former Remy Cointreau MD Peter Sant fully involved in the project… exciting times ahead …” says Garry Maxwell, Founder & Director of GMAX Travel Retail.
“We launched Ardnamurchan Scotch Whisky to the world in 2020 and have been overwhelmed with the demand and positive feedback. With this strong foundation now in place, I am delighted to be partnering with the highly experienced and respected team at GMAX to introduce us to the exciting global travel retail sector. We remain fully committed to putting unashamedly full-flavored West coast Scotch whisky in bottle and our first GTR exclusive, the Ardnamurchan Fascadale, is no exception,” says Alex Bruce, Managing Director at Ardnamurchan Distillery.
