Behind The Scenes: Bottling

The final stage in the whisky-making process is bottling! At Kilchoman we are one of the few distilleries in Scotland that bottle all of our own whisky. Everything from Machir Bay, single casks, miniatures and gift packs are completed on site by our bottling team.

Many people are unaware that few distilleries bottle their own whisky on the site where it is made. It is easier, particularly for larger companies, to send all their whisky to a central location in Scotland to be bottled and distributed from there. Kilchoman is different, we were established with our barley to bottle philosophy in mind, using water from the Glen Osamail to reduce our whisky to their bottling strength. On-site bottling is integral to our ethos.

We currently ship our whisky to over 60 different countries all around the world, each with their own strict packaging rules and regulations. Just for our Machir Bay expression, there are around 15 different label variations for the bottling team to keep track of. Depending on the final destination of the whisky, they ensure that the countries specific guidelines are adhered to. Forgetting any little detail could result in entire orders having to be sent back to Islay and re-labelled, an expensive mistake!

As the bottling team are the last people who see the whisky before it reaches the shelves, they have to quality check every bottle – Does it have the iconic Kilchoman coin attached? Is it filled to the right level? Is the label straight and in the correct position? How does the whisky look in the bottle?

Life is made slightly easier with a few machines to help fill bottles and attach the labels, something we had to do by hand for many years! However, it isn’t all easy going, every Kilchoman coin is still stuck on by hand, the bottles packed into cartons by hand, and many single casks and small batches are still hand numbered.

Christmas has been kind to the bottling team and in 2025 we are hoping to install the new labelling machine that has arrived with a few extras!

With our current set-up and a full team on the line, we can bottle over 3,000 bottles of whisky in a day, which equates to 8 pallets. Currently the team consists of six members with Derek leading the way as bottling manager. Derek is also responsible for hand cutting all the peat we use in our kiln, so he’s a busy man! There are then a further five members of the team who have specific roles along the line, all required at full tilt when a big order comes in…

Once the bottles have been approved, they are packed into outer cases, loaded onto pallets, and wrapped up tight. We wish them good luck on the long journey around the world, hopefully arriving safely on the shelf of your local retailer.

It may not be the most talked about or glamorous role at a distillery but it certainly is a vital one!

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