A renowned Scottish whisky writer and his World Record-breaking sons have today launched a limited edition charity whisky, with every bottle sold giving at least one person clean water for life.
In 2020, Ewan, Jamie and Lachlan Maclean became the first three brothers to row any ocean as well as the fastest and youngest trio to row across the Atlantic Ocean.
It was during their 35 days at sea that the idea to establish a charitable family foundation began to form.
Along with their father Charles, who is one of the Scotch whisky industry’s most respected figures, the brothers went on to found the Maclean Foundation which works to raise funds for clean water projects through ‘adventures and collaboration with the whisky industry’.
The release of the Ardnamurchan six-year-old single cask Highland malt marks the beginning of a long-term campaign, with many more Maclean Foundation whisky announcements said to be "on the horizon".
Charles Maclean MBE, said: “The Maclean Foundation is my legacy.
“This is just the beginning of a long-term partnership with the Scotch whisky industry to turn donated casks into clean water.
“The Scotch whisky industry has allowed me to make a living out of something I love, and it has made me very many friends.
“Inspired by my three sons working together, putting my knowledge and experience at the service of others to create long-term positive change is my way of saying thank you. We believe in our mission wholeheartedly.
“Big or small, every act of compassion, every act of adventure can make a change.”
READ MORE: Prestigious Scotch whisky society signals profit hopes
Maclean worked with Ardnamurchan’s managing director Alex Bruce to select the cask for the whisky, which was then donated to the charity.
A total of 243 cask strength bottles are now available to purchase from today via Royal Mile Whiskies and priced at £115 per bottle.
A limit of one per buyer has been set given the ‘expected interest’ in the release with all profits raised funding clean water projects in Madagascar.
Alex Bruce, managing director of Ardnamurchan Distillery, said: “This cask was one of the standouts of our last blending session.
“We always end up with one or two which are just too individually interesting to go into the vat.
“This is a quality limited edition produced in an ex-Bourbon cask with a seal of approval from our longstanding sensory mentor Charles Maclean, so we expect there to be high demand.
“The boys' adventurous spirit and Charlie's considered craft is a winning combination. We’re proud to be able to support them on their journey.”
The Maclean Foundation’s first release features a unique wrap-around label created by Edinburgh-based branding agency Contagious which “allows Charlie the space to passionately articulate the story of the whisky”.
A QR code on each bottle can be scanned for further information, allowing buyers to learn about the clean water project funded by their purchase.
READ MORE: Hopping on a flight to whisky island to brush up on some malt knowledge
The youngest Maclean brother, Lachlan, said: “Access to clean water is a basic human need, yet for many communities in rural Madagascar, it remains a luxury.
“During our visit last year, we saw first-hand the impact boreholes have on people’s lives.
“It costs £6,000 to build and maintain a clean water borehole that can serve 200 people for up to 100 years.
“Since 2009, our partner Feedback Madagascar has drilled and installed over 300 boreholes in the region through our work, we’ll continue to add to that total.
“With each bottle sold, we’ll give people clean water for life by funding the drilling and construction of boreholes, creating long-term positive change for communities.
“Among many other things, this will transform quality of life, reducing the incidence of diarrhoeal disease.”
The whisky release is the third major fundraising initiative since the charity was launched less than a year ago.
The brothers previously completed a cycle and row to every distillery currently selling whisky in Scotland in August, while Charles Maclean raised £67,934.44 through the auction of “very rare and highly collectable” spirits including a Port Ellen from 1979 and a 36-year-old Glengoyne from the Russell Family cask.
For more information on the Maclean Foundation, click here.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here