Isle of Harris Distillers is inviting people from around the world to be part of the first tasting of its inaugural single malt whisky, the Hearach.
The distillery, located in Tarbert on the Hebridean Isle of Harris, will be hosting a live stream encompassing a first look at the whisky's bottle and a tasting from 2.30pm GMT on Friday 22 September.
The Hearach (a Scots Gaelic name for Harris) has been distilled, matured and bottled on the island and is the first legal whisky produced on the island.
People are invited to join the live stream on Friday, which will be hosted at harrisdistillery.com/behere and will also include live Gaelic music performances and speeches from members of the distillery team before the first dram is tasted.
Simon Erlanger, Isle of Harris Distillers managing director, said: “The Hearach has been many years in the making, so we’re delighted to be able to share it with the world later this month. A delicious single malt, it encapsulates the feel and flavour of life on Harris, bringing the island to lovers of fine spirits in much the same way as our ever-popular gin does. Most importantly though, as with our gin, it has been created with the future growth of the island in mind – from employment opportunities to wider support of the island economy.”
The first seven batches of the Hearach single malt will be available to purchase from 10am on 23 September, both online at harrisdistillery.com and at the distillery. It will then be made available from October in select bars, restaurants, and retailers in the UK and more than 20 other countries globally.
The Isle of Harris Distillery opened in 2015, staffed by a team of 10 local residents. Today the distillery has nearly 50 full-time staff, making it the largest private employer in Harris. Head distiller Norman Ian Mackay joined the company in 2017 and now oversees a team of four distillers. As well as producing single malt spirit, the distillery also makes the popular Isle of Harris Gin.
