Glen Scotia calls for photos of Campbeltown's whisky-making heritage

Glen Scotia is calling for people around the world to share their photographs of Campbeltown that capture the peak of its whisky industry.

A bustling hub of whisky production in the 19th and early 20th centuries that once boasted more than two dozen distilleries, there are now just three whisky distilleries in Campbeltown, including Glen Scotia.

In a bid to revive the memory of Campbeltown's Victorian whisky-making heyday, Glen Scotia is asking people around the world to send in pictures from its past.

Selected images may feature as part of this year's virtual Glen Scotia Whisky Festival, which is expected to bring together thousands of whisky fans around the world for distillery tours and tastings.

Some of the photographs may also be used in marketing materials by Glen Scotia to show off Campbeltown's rich whisky-making heritage.

Iain McAlister, master distiller and distillery manager at Glen Scotia, said: "The contribution Campbeltown has made to Scotch is incomparable and we are proud to continue to fly the flag for the region around the world.

"Whisky was a way of life in our coastal town for more than 100 years and over time, all that experience, craft and passion has been poured into Glen Scotia. Now we are looking for photography that will help us uncover what makes Campbeltown the 'whiskiest place in the world'."

Digital or print photographs can be submitted via email to glenscotia@bigpartnership.co.uk or by post to Glen Scotia, BIG Partnership, Fountain House, 1-3 Woodside Crescent, Glasgow, G3 7UL, with contact details of the sender, by 31 March 2021.

At its peak in the Victorian era, Campbeltown had around 30 legal distilleries operating in a town with a population of 9,000 people, earning it the nicknames of 'Spiritville' and 'Whiskyopolis'.

The search for photography follows Glen Scotia’s 2019 campaign to recognise Campbeltown as the ‘whiskiest place in the world’, which reached the UK parliament.

The motion acknowledged the region for playing a significant part in the history and development of whisky distilling in Scotland and congratulated Iain McAlister on helping to raise awareness of Campbeltown’s whisky heritage. 

Image: Stenlake Publishing

25 February 2021 - Bethany Whymark