Lochlea Distillery

Lochlea’s story

Lochlea is an independent and family-owned craft whisky distillery located in the Lowlands region of Scotland. It is near the town of Kilmarnock in Ayrshire. The farm distillery grows all the barley used in production. This is malted locally before returning to the farm to be used to produce new make spirit. The farm was the former home to the famous Scottish poet and wordsmith Robert Burns, who lived and worked there for part of his life.

Lochlea produces a robust cereal-led style of spirit. This is heavier than the regular style associated with the Lowlands, which are known to be light and delicate with floral and grassy notes. The distillery is widely regarded as one of the leading new artisan distilleries to have been built in Scotland during the last decade.

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Lochlea’s history

Lochlea was founded by Neil and Jen McGeoch in 2015 under the name Lochlea Distilling Co. They applied for permission to build the distillery on his own land at Lochlea Farm, which they had owned since 2006. Once granted, Lochlea was constructed by converting an old piggery. A former cattle shed became the maturation warehouse. As part of the £6 million investment, the McGeochs switched the farm from beef production to growing barley for malting.

Lochlea Farm was the former home of Robert Burns between 1777 and 1784, and is located near Kilmarnock in Ayrshire. Distillation began in August 2018. The inaugural limited edition whisky – Lochlea Single Malt First Release – was released for Burns Night 2022. It had been matured in a combination of first-fill ex-bourbon barrels and ex-Pedro Ximenez sherry casks for just over three years.

The initial whisky was produced and nurtured by Malcolm Rennie, a whisky industry veteran with over 30 years of experience. He was succeeded by John Campbell, the former Distillery Manager at Laphroaig on Islay, in late 2021. In December 2024, Jill Boyd, the former Compass Box blender and whisky maker at Aber Falls in Wales, took over from Campbell as Master Distiller. The core range Our Barley was released in mid-2022.

• How to pronounce Lochlea? lock-lee
• Country: Scotland
• Region: Lowlands
• Founded: 2018
• Current owners: Lochlea Distilling Co.
• Production capacity per year: 200,000 litres
• Mash tun: 2 ton
• Washbacks: 6
• Stills: 2
• Visitor centre: No

Lochlea Distillery
Lochlea Farm
Kilmarnock
KA1 5NN
www.lochleadistillery.com

Did you know?

Lochlea Farm grows 600 tonnes of barley annually to support the distillery’s whisky production. This is harvested in one go each September, then malted in three 200 tonne at a local malting company throughout the year.