Torabhaig is the first whisky distillery to be built on Skye in 190 years and only the second legal site to operate on the island. The site for Torabhaig was actually chosen by Sir Iain Noble, who founded Pràban na Linne in 1976, but sadly he passed in 2010 before he could see his plan through. Mossburn Distillers took advantage of the established planning permission and in 2014 began the process of turning the 200-year-old farmstead into a distillery.
The brand sources all its barley from Scotland and predominantly does peated runs at 75 or above ppm. It’s mixed with pure island spring water sourced from the Allt Breacach and the Allt Gleann burns in a 1.5-tonne mash tun before long fermentation (at least 70 hours, going as high as 120) occurs in eight, 8000-litre capacity Douglas Fir wooden washbacks. Distillation takes place in two traditional copper pot stills custom made by Forsyths of Rothes, an 8000-litre wash still and a 5000-litre spirit still. More than 50% of Torabhaig whisky is aged in first-fill bourbon casks, but the brand also has Port, Madeira, Cognac, Sauternes, Bordeaux wine, virgin European oak and refill casks in its warehouses, which includes a spread of dunnage, racked and palletised.
Production is overseen by nine distillers and first took place in January 2017. In February 2021, Torabhaig released its first whisky: the Legacy Series 2017. The brand will release a further three expressions in the series until 2028 when a single malt that has been aged for ten years is ready.