Isle of ArranDistillers (Lochranza Distillery)

Harold Currie, a former Chivas Brothers director, founded the Isle of Arran distillery at Lochranza in 1995, reviving legal whisky-making on an island that once hid dozens of illicit stills in its hills and glens. Currie sold his shareholding in 2003 and the distillery has continued under independent ownership since, drawing its process water from Loch na Davie and running two wash stills and two spirit stills to produce Arran single malt. A sister site at Lagg, on the island's south end, opened in 2019 to make a peated style. Visitors can join a tour and tasting at Lochranza, then eat at the on-site Casks Cafe overlooking the glen. Arran remains the only distillery licensed to put Robert Burns's image and signature on its packaging, a detail tied to the whisky's marketing rather than the poet's own life.