An initial tranche of £3m has been approved by shareholders of the AIM listed company, with the possibility of an additional loan of up to £2m.
The investment will see Distil build a permanent home for Blackwoods Scottish Gin on the site, including stills, gin school and visitor centre, overseen by Edwards Distillers master distiller Sion Edwards.
As part of the deal, Distil will also gain access to Ardgowan’s master whisky maker, Max Macfarlane, to develop a separate Distil blended malt whisky brand yet to be revealed.
The new Ardgowan Distillery will be situated on the 800-year-old Ardgown Estate, 35 minutes from Glasgow and the first phase will be to incorporate two copper pot stills and six washbacks to produce 1m litres per annum.
It is estimated that the distillery and visitor centre will create up to 35 new jobs in the local area in the first five years, and contribute more than £2m to the local economy.
Don, Goulding, executive chairman of Distil, said: “The convertible loan of up to £5m allows us the opportunity to realise a longstanding ambition to create a home for Blackwoods with our own stand-alone distillery and visitor centre.
“Access to our own facilities, as well as the ability to draw upon the Ardgowan team’s wealth of experience, will allow us to accelerate NPD across our existing portfolio of brands, as well as create our own brand of malt whisky, positioning ourselves in a premium category which has been in long term growth globally.”
