Port Ellen Distillery plans formally submitted

Plans to bring the iconic Port Ellen Distillery on Islay back to life in a unique celebration of distilling heritage and innovation have been formally submitted.The detailed planning application setting out proposals that will see the famous ‘silent distillery’ reopened more than 35 years after it was closed have been filed with Argyll & Bute Council, following community engagement and pre-application consultation with key stakeholders.Subject to planning approval, Port Ellen will be brought back into production in a combination of modern and heritage buildings housing both traditional and innovative approaches to distilling under one roof.This will be achieved through two pairs of copper pot stills and two separate distillation regimes. The primary distillation regime, using two stills that exactly replicate the original Port Ellen copper pot stills, will carefully recreate the original spirit character of the distillery.Alongside this will be a second, smaller pair of stills that will produce alternative spirit characters, allowing the Port Ellen whisky makers the freedom to experiment with new whisky styles.The experimental stills pay homage to John Ramsay, who owned Port Ellen in its formative years and who made it one of the most innovative distilleries of the 19th century, pioneering many of the techniques and equipment that would become mainstays of the Scotch whisky industry.