Isle of Harris Distillery: The Hearach Took Eight Years to Arrive

The Isle of Harris Distillery is the first legal distillery ever built on Harris, in the Outer Hebrides. It began production in December 2015, after plans were first submitted to local council Comhairle nan Eilean Siar in 2011, and its gin arrived not long after. Its single malt, The Hearach, took far longer: autumn 2023, eight years after the stills first ran.

Isle of Harris Distillery at a glance

History of Isle of Harris Distillery

The project to bring a distillery to Harris went to the local council, Comhairle nan Eilean Siar, in 2011. A £2.8 million combined grant from the Scottish Government and Highlands and Islands Enterprise helped fund the roughly £10 million build, with the rest from private investment. John R. Coleman Architects designed the building, construction began in spring 2014, and the distillery opened to the public in October 2015, with the first production run on 17 December that year.

For the first eight years, the distillery's public face was its gin, flavoured with local sugar kelp seaweed alongside juniper, coriander, angelica root and cassia bark, which went on to win a Gold Award at the 2021 World Gin Awards. The single malt, named The Hearach after the Gaelic word for someone from Harris, needed far longer to mature before it was ready, and did not reach its first release until autumn 2023.

How Isle of Harris Distillery makes its whisky

The Hearach is distilled and matured on Harris itself, drawing on the island's remote Outer Hebridean setting for both its character and its story. The distillery's gin, made alongside the whisky from its earliest days, uses seaweed harvested locally, a genuinely place-specific botanical that few other Scottish gins can claim.

Isle of Harris and independent bottlers

Because The Hearach only reached release in 2023, independently bottled Isle of Harris whisky is effectively nonexistent so far. Almost everything available is the distillery's own release, making it a name collectors are still watching rather than actively trading.

Isle of Harris and The Single Cask

We don't currently hold an Isle of Harris cask, and given how recently The Hearach was released, that is unlikely to change soon. If an Island or Hebridean character is what you're after, get in touch and we'll tell you what comparable stock we hold right now.

Plan a bottling inspired by Isle of Harris

Few distilleries have waited as long as Harris did between opening and releasing their first whisky. If that kind of patience, and the island-specific character behind it, interests you for your own bottling, start with our whisky casks available page, or read about buying a whisky cask and the four steps to bottling your own whisky. For something under your own name, our private label whisky service covers that end to end. For more on Scotland's islands, see our guides to Isle of Raasay and Tobermory.

We hold a wide range of casks to sell to independent bottlers and private customers, drawn from many different distilleries, finished in a variety of wood types from sherry and port casks to bourbon and rum, with real differences in yeast and production style from one distillery to the next. If you are an independent bottler looking for stock, or you have always wanted a cask of your own, talk to us about what we currently hold in the warehouse. Where we don't hold the exact distillery featured in this guide, we say so honestly, and we're usually able to point you toward something close in style from what we do have.

If you have questions about any of this, or about Isle of Harris distillery in particular, our contact page is the fastest way to reach us.

Frequently asked questions

Was there ever a distillery on Harris before this one?

No, this is the first legal distillery ever built on the Isle of Harris.

When did Isle of Harris Distillery open?

It opened to the public in October 2015, with first production on 17 December that year.

When was The Hearach released?

Autumn 2023, eight years after the distillery first began production.

What does Isle of Harris gin taste like?

It's flavoured with local sugar kelp seaweed alongside juniper, coriander, angelica root and cassia bark, and won a Gold Award at the 2021 World Gin Awards.

How was Isle of Harris Distillery funded?

A roughly £10 million build, including a £2.8 million grant from the Scottish Government and Highlands and Islands Enterprise, with the remainder from private investment.

Does The Single Cask sell an Isle of Harris cask?

Not at the moment, and The Hearach's very recent release makes that unlikely to change soon. Contact us for comparable Island stock.