Torabhaig

The company says the farm steading at Torabhaig was built with stone from the ruined castle of Caisteal Chamuis (Knock Castle) nearby, whose last documented owner was Clan MacDonald in 1632, and that records from 1763 mention a working farm here. Sir Iain Noble, founder of the merchant bank Noble Grossart and of the Skye whisky firm Pràban na Linne, planned to convert the listed steading into a distillery and obtained permission in 2002, but died in 2010.

Mossburn Distillers, then looking for a site on Skye, took up the project. ScotchWhisky.com reports that renovation of the near-ruined building began in 2013 and took three years. The company says it has been in full production since January 2017, making it the second licensed single malt distillery on Skye. Companies House shows Torabhaig Distillery Ltd wholly owned by Mossburn Distillers Ltd, both incorporated in 2013.

Torabhaig stands beside the A851 at Teangue on the Sleat peninsula in the south of Skye, in the Highland region, near the ruins of Caisteal Chamuis. ScotchWhisky.com names its water sources as the Allt Gleann Thorabhaig and the Allt Breacach, and reports a removable slate roof designed so the stills can be reached for repairs. The company trains local people as distillers, whom it calls "Journeymen", and partners with the National Centre for Gaelic Language and Culture on Skye.

ScotchWhisky.com gives a capacity of 500,000 litres of alcohol a year. Malt from Simpson's peated to 50 ppm is mashed 1.5 tonnes at a time in a semi-lauter mash tun, and the clear wort ferments for about 90 hours in eight Douglas fir washbacks. The two copper pot stills, a wash still of 8,000 litres and a spirit still of 5,000 litres, were custom built by Forsyths of Rothes, according to the company. Most casks mature palletised, about a tenth in dunnage. The company says it uses more than one barley variety and has some casks made to its own specification.

ScotchWhisky.com describes the aim as a traditional island malt, medium-weight and medium-peated, with long fermentation and much copper contact giving a fruit-forward spirit. The company calls the goal "well-tempered peat", a balance of strength and refinement, and is cautious about defining its whisky while it is young. Its releases are grouped as the Legacy Series, named for places around the distillery.