Distillery calls in air support

By Craig Anderson
BBC Scotland news

A world-famous island distillery is having to call in air support to ensure continuing supplies of "the water of life".

The Ardbeg Distillery on Islay is supplied by Loch Uigeadail some 800 feet above sea level.

But the reservoir wall which maintains water levels is crumbling and too much water is seeping away, threatening supplies to the distillery on the coast below.

Because of the remoteness of the loch, the construction team has had to draft in a helicopter to airlift 40 tonnes of building materials - including a cement mixer - up to the site.

With no road or track to the loch, local builder Ross Laird said it was one of the more unusual contracts he's worked on. "The big problem is getting here. So we've got quad bikes and a helicopter bringing all the stuff up."

"The Islay weather's also a problem. It's so unpredictable you never know what you're going to be faced with."

Peat-laden water

The four-week long reconstruction project should ensure that none of the loch's precious peat-laden water escapes and that the distillery has a guaranteed supply.

Water supplies are under threat because the reservoir wall is crumbling

During dry weather last summer, some island distilleries had to cut production because of water shortages.

Ardbeg single malt has been named the best whisky in the world for two years running in whisky guru Jim Murray's Whisky Bible - so distillery staff are keen to preserve every drop of the precious water that's so central to their final product.

Ardbeg manager Michael Heads said: "It's one of the raw materials we must have. Loch Uigeadail translates as "the dark place" - it's got very deep, peaty water in it and it's what we require for making our whisky. So it's vitally important."

"It's an investment to protect the distillery and the jobs here as well."

Islay is home to eight working distilleries and is famous for producing a range of malts with a distinctive peat-smoke flavour.