Ayrshire-based Lochlea Distillery crowned

International Trade Business of the Year in regional awards

Darren McCormick from Lochlea Distillery

and Samantha McKechnie from Neogen (award category sponsor)

 The independently owned and family-run Lochlea Distillery in South Ayrshire – one of the very few farm-to-cask whisky distilleries in Scotland – has scooped the ‘Going Global – International Trade Business of the Year’ award at the Ayrshire Chamber of Commerce Business Awards.

The annual Ayrshire Business Awards attract high profile industry support and are established as the leading awards ceremony for Ayrshire businesses, providing the opportunity to showcase major achievements and to celebrate outstanding success.

The winners were announced at the 2023 Awards Dinner on Friday (6th October) at Ayr Racecourse where the Lochlea Distillery team were delighted to win the Going Global – International Trade Business of the Year category, celebrating companies that have demonstrated significant international growth and proving that borders are not a barrier to trade.

Lochlea Distillery has a rich Scottish heritage and was once home to Robert Burns himself who worked and lived on the farm during his formative years, from 1777 to 1784. Having only launched their first whisky in January 2022, Lochlea’s whiskies are already stocked in over 150 retailers in the UK and in 20 export markets worldwide.

David Ferguson, Commercial Director at Lochlea Distillery commented: “We are over the moon to have won this prestigious award celebrating growing businesses in our region, especially given the calibre of our fellow Ayrshire finalists. We have a strong and expanding local customer base whose support has been key since we launched last year. On the export side, it means a lot to our team that Lochlea has been recognised for our achievements to date, and we have exciting plans to continue moving into more international markets in future”.

About Lochlea Distillery:

Lochlea was originally a 222 acre livestock farm before being purchased by Neil and Jen McGeoch in 2006. After much consideration of the future of the farm and a successful trial to grow its own barley in 2015, the couple transformed the land and existing farm buildings into a fully-operational distillery in 2017 and started distilling the following year. The farming side has remained a unique part of Lochlea, with the move into barley production – paving the way for Lochlea to be one of the very few fully grain-to-cask distilleries in Scotland.