Benbecula Distillery's Latest Private Cask Offering

Benbecula Distillery, the first official scotch single malt distillery from its namesake island, has announced its 2025 cask offer. This is the second tranche of casks following the program’s launch in 2024, an offer that will be available only during the distillery’s first three years of production. There are 120 casks available this year, split equally among three cask types: 250-liter palo cortado hogsheads, 225-liter red wine barriques, and 200-liter/53-gallon heavily charred bourbon barrels. These cask types are new additions to Benbecula’s private cask ownership program, last year’s offer consisted of a choice of 250-liter pedro ximénez and oloroso sherry hogsheads.

Benbecula lies west of Skye in Scotland’s Outer Hebrides, nestled between North and South Uist and connected to both by causeways. Home to just over 1,200 people, the low-lying island is about seven times smaller than Islay. The distillery, built in a former salmon processing plant, commenced production in 2024. Owned by local businessman Angus MacMillan through his holding company, MacMillan Spirits, the distillery features a striking lighthouse design housing a copper pot still, inspired by the design of the 19th-century Stevenson lighthouse on the uninhabited Monarch Isles, west of Benbecula.

Benbecula Distillery produces up to 350,000 liters of alcohol per year, with a focus on using locally grown bere barley—cultivated by island crofters, including founder Angus MacMillan—on soil enriched with nutrients from seaweed. Bere barley is an ancient six-row variety that thrives in the poor soils of the Hebrides and Orkney, well adapted to the short growing season and long daylight hours of the northern summer. Fans of Bruichladdich whiskies might recall its use in that distillery’s whiskies. Benbecula plans to produce a light to medium peated style of single malt, with a smoky, maritime flavor profile. Foraged island heather will also be added to the peat during kilning for special annual batches; a technique similar to that used by Mackmyra in Sweden, and Glenmorangie for A Tale of The Forest.

Overseeing production is master distiller Brendan MacCarron known for his work with Glenmorangie, Oban, Bunnahabhain, Deanston, and other distilleries. MacCarron is now a consulting master distiller and blender, who, in addition to Benbecula, works with The Macklowe American single malt, and took over as whisky maker at The Lakes Distillery in England earlier this year, replacing Sarah Burgess, former Macallan whisky maker, who moved to International Beverage, owners of Old Pulteney and Balblair.

The Benbecula cask offer comes with a range of exclusive benefits, including a 25 ml sample of new make spirit, 10% off distillery products (excluding cask purchases), lifetime free distillery tours, and a complimentary lunch for the cask owner and a guest on their first visit. Owners also gain membership to the Benbecula Comunn—an exclusive cask owners’ club with access to limited and members-only bottlings. Each cask will be filled to the scotch industry standard ABV of 63.5%. Casks can be reserved for an initial non-refundable deposit of £300 (about $400), with the balance due within 10 days of completing the ownership documentation. The full cost for the contents of the casks (like most programs in Scotland, you own the whisky, not the wood) is £8,000 (about $10,800) for the palo cortado hogshead, £7,500 (about $10,100) for the red wine barrique, and £5,800 (about $7,800) for the bourbon barrel, and that includes the whisky, storage in bond, and insurance for seven years. The casks can be matured longer if desired, such as saving it for a wedding anniversary, with additional charges on an annual basis. New make fillings are much less expensive than buying mature casks of scotch, but it’s important to read the small print and fully understand the costs before purchasing. Like many scotch cask ownership programs, these do not include taxes, duties, bottling, and labeling at the end of seven years. Cask owners will not be able to use any of the distillery logos, trademarks, and certain terms on the labels; they can only state “Distilled at Benbecula Distillery” and include the distillation date. Samples of 100 ml are available once a year upon request and can be sent internationally. However, cask owners will need to cover the costs of import duties and tariffs. Importantly, owners are not permitted to bottle their Benbecula casks ahead of the inaugural release from Benbecula Distillery in 2029.