A WEALTHY whisky enthusiast has invested a wopping £100,000 in a distillery which is being built outside of Inverkip after being impressed at a dram-tastic open day.
Thousands of people were welcomed onto the site of the multi-million-pound Ardgowan Distillery project for the first time last Saturday as part of a successful event which bosses hope will now become an annual occurrence.
The open day showcased the under-construction facility’s membership scheme, which offers a range of rewards for backers across four membership tiers based on the amount they contribute.
The event brought in scores of sign-ups for the first three tiers of membership and even netted an enormous £100,000 from a backer who purchased ‘chieftain’ status, which is only available to 100 people worldwide.
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Ardgowan Distillery CEO Martin McAdam told the Telegraph the distillery team had been blown away by the number of people that came along.
He said: “It’s great, it was the first opportunity for people to purchase casks and we sold several which was excellent.
“We also completely sold out of our Clan Ardgowan Open Day special bottling.
“It was an amazing day and we really appreciated the whole community coming out.
“There were certainly more people there than we expected, we counted throughout the day and at least 5000 people came along.
“The reaction to the open day was very positive and there’s no question about it coming back next year.
“It really was a remarkable day.
“We had live music which was brilliant from the Laurettes and the food stalls were also a big success.
“It drizzled a little on the day but it’s Scotland and we had the tent so we got on with things.
“I just want to say a huge thanks to everyone who came along, we had quite a few international visitors who came because they’d heard about it but 90 percent of the people there were local and we were grateful for that.”
Those who came along got to try a few tipples as part of the distillery’s whisky tasting sessions, with a selection of food and drink on offer as well.
Live music was provided by piper John MacInnes, while face painting and a performance from local music group the Laurettes was also put on.
The company was joined on the day by representatives from its partner firm Distil as well as a range of other businesses.
Distillery chiefs are hoping that gin production can begin at the facility by the end of next month, with the construction of the main building – which will be reminiscent of a Nordic long hall - due to start in the near future.
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