Campbeltown distillery Glen Scotia to donate funds from sale of new whisky to Madagascar charity

Campbeltown distillery Glen Scotia has created an Alice in Wonderland-inspired whisky that aims to provide clean water for life to people in Madagascar.

Glen Scotia has donated a limited-edition first-fill Bourbon cask to support the work of The Maclean Foundation (TMF), a charity that raises funds for clean water projects through adventures and collaboration with the whisky industry.

The charity bottling has been inspired by Lewis Carroll’s classic novel, Alice in Wonderland.

The bottle was designed by Scottish creative agency Contagious, and features a narration by Charles Maclean, who helped select the cask.

He tells the story of the liquid through the window of Alice in Wonderland, as he believes it shares the same call to ‘drink me’ that enticed Alice into a world of wonder in the novel.

Maclean described the whisky as a triumph, noting it has “a lovely golden colour, completely clean and remarkably mature for its age.”

Each of the 210 bottles are filled with eight-year-old whisky aged in first-fill bourbon and has the potential to provide someone with clean water for life – in a country where more than 90% of the population live on less than $2 a day.

The sale of each £115 bottle has the potential to provide someone with clean water for life.

The charity, which was founded by Scottish whisky expert Charles Maclean and his three sons, Ewan, Jamie and Lachlan, already provides clean water for 2,000 Madagascans.

The three sons became the first brothers to row any ocean and were the youngest and fastest trio to cross the Atlantic Ocean in January 2020.

In April next year, they will begin the Rare Whisky 101 Pacific Row, a non-stop unsupported Pacific Ocean voyage in a bid to help the charity raise £1m to help build more clean water bore holes.

Glen Scotia’s master distiller and distillery manager Iain McAlister said he and his team are “in awe” of Charles Maclean’s charitable efforts, who has described the Foundation and his sons as his “legacy”.

He said: “Charles has become a wonderful friend to us over the years and I’ve loved spending many an afternoon with him at the distillery, sharing stories and talking whisky, life and, of course, family.

“Family is important to us both and I’m in awe of all the adventures his boys have been on and the impact of the project – incredible stuff.

“Having an opportunity to repay his support by donating this cask to The Maclean Foundation is a complete pleasure, especially knowing the impact it will have for so many in Madagascar.”