The owners of Loch Lomond Brewery have announced an expansion into whisky distilling at the Levenbank Distillery. Fiona and Euan MacEachern, who founded the brewery in 2011, have previously distilled gin and vodka under their brand West Highland Spirits.

Situated on the banks of the River Leven, the distillery currently shares space with the brewery. Plans are currently being made for a separate distillery and visitor centre, which will be close to the existing site. 

Levenbank says that its "innovative" approach to whisky is inspired by its brewing experience. Company director Fiona MacEachern commented: "Whisky has been on the cards for many years. The seed was firmly planted when Euan and I began distilling gin for West Highland Spirits, and whisky was the natural next step for us. We’re excited to approach distilling from a brewer’s perspective because whisky is essentially distilled from a high-ABV beer."

The distillery will use some of its beer recipes as the base of its whiskies, an approach which MacEachern claims "no one else in the industry is really focusing on".

Levenbank has so far installed its stills and begun filling its casks, working with consultant distiller Jack Mayo, whose former roles include distillery manager and head distiller for Glasgow and Holyrood distilleries.

Mayo explained: "Our custom-built copper and column stills are now installed, and we’re preparing to fill 150 to 200 casks. The distilling setup is designed to scale, with future capacity reaching over three times that volume, potentially delivering up to 80,000 LPA (litres of pure alcohol) with increased staffing and expanded wash-making facilities."

The distillery plans to distil three "core styles" of Lowland new make, to be blended to form signature whisky releases once matured: a light, fruit-forward spirit using Laureate barley; a 'robust' spirit made with crystal and chocolate-malted barley; and a peated spirit. Levenbank also plans to have a range of single grain whiskies developed from beer recipes.

Head distiller and company director Euan MacEachern added: "We want our whisky to be as remarkable as our beers. We’re working towards a flagship unaged single malt to be released around 2030/31, with a range of peated and unpeated expressions, including single casks, leading up to our 10-year-old single malt. We also have some really exciting ideas as we experiment with adapting our award-winning beer recipes as the base for distillation."

For more information, visit www.levenbank.com.