Whisky specialist Gordon and MacPhail (G&M) has announced the new distillery it is building near Grantown and its products will be called the Cairn.
The Elgin-based firm said the name was chosen after more than 300 suggestions from staff and shareholders were considered and reflected it’s “stunning location”, overlooking the Cairngorm mountains.
The family-run company added it wanted the branding to “complement not compete” with its other, more traditional distillery, Benromach, near Forres, and be easy for consumers to pronounce and spell.
Work on the multi-million-pound development, at Craggan, started in July after it was granted planning permission by the Cairngorms National Park Authority (CNPA) this year.
The distillery, which will include a visitor centre, tasting rooms, retail space and a coffee shop, is expected to open in spring 2022.
G&M brands director Ian Chapman said: “We have put the consumer right at the heart of the process of creating the brand, as we have with the design of the distillery itself.
“We wanted to make sure it was clearly Scottish, but easy for consumers to pronounce and to spell. This will be particularly important for our international markets when English is not the first language.
“We also had to be mindful of Benromach, our other distillery. We wanted the new brand to complement, not compete.”
G&M, which worked with Glasgow-based agency Good to create the branding, said that, in addition to the name, the identity needed to have “icons and graphical elements” to make it unmistakable for non-English speaking consumers.
An icon has been developed for the brand, which, according to the firm, represents the “coming together of many elements to form a cairn”.
Mr Chapman added: “The brand is eye-catching and contemporary and the approach to develop it put the consumer at the centre of our thinking.
“It is the same approach we have taken to designing the Cairn Distillery itself. The modern building takes advantage of the outstanding views across the River Spey to the Cairngorms and has been designed with the customer at the centre of the experience.”
The Cairn will be the first new malt whisky distillery developed in the park area since the authority was created in 2003.
G&M has said it will become a “significant local employer” and have the capacity to produce around 440,000 gallons of whisky a year.
The new distillery’s visitor facilities are expected to attract 50,000 tourists annually.
G&M also yesterday revealed the third and penultimate in the series of rare whiskies it is releasing to mark the company’s 125th anniversary would be the 1979 Mostowie from Miltonduff Distillery.
Stephen Rankin, a fourth-generation member of Gordon & MacPhail’s owning family and the company’s director of prestige, said: “Each of the extremely rare whiskies released to commemorate our 125th anniversary is truly unique as they are the last cask of that particular make we have maturing in our warehouse.
‘‘With no official bottling ever available of the elusive Mosstowie malt, we are particularly excited to bring this special whisky to the market.”
