Welcome
Follow the winding Alness river up into the remote hills of the Scottish Highlands. In the shadow of Ardross Castle, you’ll find the remains of a 19th century farmhouse, built of stone and slate. Welcome to the home of Greenwood Distillers.
We’re building a bridge that links countries, continents, and cultures — one made of sumptuous spirits, cemented with centuries of expertise and built on a foundation of great people, who hail from Scotland, Kentucky, Japan, Mexico and France.
Carving an impressive silhouette in the Northern Highlands, the newly constructed Ardross Distillery will open in 2019, to begin distilling Scotch and Gin. Push through its large wooden doors to discover a distillery alive with experimentation and bursting with the creativity of niche spirits, unexpected botanical pairings and long, patient maturations.
Greenwood Distillers was founded in 2018 by Barthelemy Brosseau and is kept in check by legendary Chief Blender Andrew Rankin. Our philosophy is all about embracing a healthy debate. At our home in Ardross, classically trained distillers & master blenders come together with a restless team of untrained dreamers and impetuous doers. We are old and young and we rarely agree — except when it comes to quality. We don’t compromise on quality.
Beyond our first love, Scotch Whisky, this quest for quality has led us to distil and unearth other hidden gems. We now boast a diverse range of internationally beloved spirits on our portfolio including Gin, Mezcal, Armagnac and of course, Whisky. We also have plans to build bridges from Scotland to Kentucky (Bourbon) and Japan (Japanese Whisky).
Select a country to find out more.
Theodore is a Scottish gin powered by the spirit of the Picts, an ancient tribe that once settled near the brand’s home in the Northern Highlands.
Not much is known for sure about the Picts and the only traces of this lost tribe, famed for their courage and craftsmanship, are echoed in the art, engravings and the forgotten fortresses of Scotland.
Theodore Gin has been meticulously composed by expert distillers using a medley of 16 botanicals, including pine, damask rose, pomelo and bourbon vetiver. It is the first spirit to be produced at the new Ardross Distillery, making it Scottish by birth and Pictish by nature.
For the creation of Chateau La Lune, Greenwood Distillers have worked with the most established and knowledgeable elders of Armagnac — classically headstrong Gascons.
In Armagnac, grapes must be must be harvested at certain times of year, with different expressions being symptomatic of lunar activity. Thus, the moon heavily impacts the grape we choose. No wonder that most romantic of celestial bodies remains an object of fascination. Chateau La Lune’s first edition was made half a century ago, and next year the stars will align as we toast to the 50th anniversary of Apollo 11’s lunar landing—the moon’s jubilee—with a glass of it.
Alastor is a pure, small batch Mezcal, made by hand in the village of Santiago Matatlan, in Oaxaca, Mexico — Inspired by imagination and powered by creativity.
Using the most traditional of Mexican methods, Alastor Mezcal sources only the finest locally harvested espadín agave plants and its character is formed in mesquite-fuelled fires. It is then distilled in copper stills, mixed with Tlacolula Valley water.
Notes of citrus and spice with cherry, pear, and peach can be tasted with each sip. Drink it neat in the traditional clay cup or let its smoky, herbal flavours imbue a cocktail.
The source of inspiration for our Japanese whisky, a yamadori or copper pheasant, is a beautiful bird native to mountain forests of Honshū, Kyūshū and Shikoku islands and made famous by an old Japanese tale, Yasuke of Yamura.
A poor farmer, by the name of Yasuke, set free a copper pheasant one New Years Eve, only to meet the young woman who would become his wife the next day — but not all was as it seemed. Many moons later, when their town was under siege by the Gishi-Ki demon and its defeat could only be achieved with tail feathers from a yamadori, did his wife reveal herself to be the bird he had once set free.
Our Chairman and Master Blender Andrew has been visiting Japan annually for the last twenty years. We are now working with one of the oldest independent cooperages to source centuries old Japanase oaks for our rare Mizunara casks.
Don’t hesitate to get in touch to hear how this project unfolds.
We’ve scouted land from from Louisiana to West Virginia — but it was the Commonwealth of Kentucky, where the horses are fast and the bourbon is good, that our hearts felt most at home.
We have sauntered the well-trodden bourbon trail but veered away from the beaten track, in search of the perfect serene location for our distillery. We have spoken to legendary master distillers, toasted with the locals and we can’t wait to come back and build the Copper Pheasant Distillery, home of Greenwood Distillers in the USA.
Greenwood Bond is a new dream factory for whisky lovers and Greenwood Bond Limited Editions are its invention.
Greenwood Bond produces experimental and limited edition blends and single malt Scotch whiskies. These unique projects are born out of years of experimentation and expertise, and inspired by moments of brilliance, laying the groundwork for the most adventurous whisky brands of the future.
Already in the pipeline is the limited edition Mrs B. of Ardross, the first whisky to be produced and one which pays homage to Mrs B. herself — a Highland local living in the vicinity of the distillery. She has become the gatekeeper of our home in Ardross after being an early supporter of the project. As far as we're concerned, she’s part of the walls and we’d like her to stay forever.
At thirty years of age, we hope that tasting this fine whisky will recall some of the Highland’s best kept memories.
A meeting with Andrew W. Rankin leads to a deep discussion about the history and future of Scotch Whisky and how best to combine tradition and modernity. Soon Andrew is reigniting old alliances to find the rarest stock and plans are underway for the building of a new distillery.
On a roving journey across Scotland in the search of the perfect alliance between heritage and authenticity, Ardross was discovered, deep in the Northern Highlands.
While the steadings are dilapidated, its charm remains below the rubble. An application to restore, convert and extend a group of 19th-century farmhouse and cottages is lodged and soon approved.
Construction of the Whisky and Gin distilleries begin. Stone and slate are salvaged from the old buildings which had collapsed and are used to rebuild the walls and roof.
While two large copper stills are transported to Ardross, the founders travel to France — to the Gascon countryside — hoping to find and negotiate much lauded and long forgotten Armagnac rare stocks.
Barth flies to Mexico to meet with the Ortega Brothers and visit several Palenque (mezcal distilleries); Andrew and Barth visit Kentucky to scout potential land for the Copper Pheasant Bourbon Distillery. And as he has been doing for the last twenty years, Andrew travels to Japan and brings back Mizunara casks.
Theodore Gin, Alastor Mezcal and Château la Lune are launched. Our Bourbon and Scotch Whisky to follow shortly.
Like everything worth having, creating good whisky takes time. It was this ethos that bonded the founders of Greenwood Distillers, who were also embracing the inherent importance of adapting slow and considered movement to create a company of substance.
While Greenwood Distillers is a young company, we believe in bringing back the splendour of the past. As well
as taking residence in a restored and converted 19th-century farmhouse and cottages to accommodate our new distillery, we are invested in reinvigorating old liquids and creating something rare and exquisite. Although it is a challenge to find the gems — the best-aged Whiskys — we are becoming experts at working with liquids that are fragile by nature. Greenwood Distillers now own some of the most unique single malts in Scotland.
We've found that where there’s creative tension, there's endless enrichment. The wise turtle and the agile butterfly of our emblem represent this tension between old and new; wisdom and dynamism, the weight of experience and the fervour of youth.
At our home in Ardross, we have a similar dichotomy; classically trained distillers and blenders come together with a restless team of untrained dreamers and impetuous doers. Together, we’re building a bridge from Scotland to rest of the world.