10 questions with Graham Omand, our Distillery Manager at Lagg
Growing up on Islay and then moving to Arran, you could say Graham has spent his life surrounded by whisky. Opening Lagg in 2019 as our first Distillery Manager, he’s responsible for many of our firsts (and as we speak, many of our nexts). Here, we grab a chat with the man himself. So if you’ve always wondered “what does a distillery manager do?” and “what’s the difference between peated whisky from Islay vs Arran?” you’ve come to the right place.
Let’s do a quick whistle-stop tour on how you became the Distillery Manager at Lagg.
My name’s Graham Omand. I’m originally, originally from Tiree, but moved to Islay at age five and lived there until I was 18. So you could say I grew up there.
As you know, Islay is very much a whisky island. It’s where a lot of the famous distilleries in Scotland come from, so I was immersed in whisky from a very young age. Living on the island, pretty much everyone in my family worked in whisky, including my mother who worked in the Bowmore distillery office before she had kids. It was the norm where I came from.
I left Islay to go to university, where I got a degree in applied science and biotech. When I graduated at the end of 2010, I was 22 years old, working in the Co-op and had no idea what I wanted to do with my future. My uncle, James McTaggart, just so happened to be the Distillery Manager at Lochranza, and he said to me: “You know the industry, you know the science—if you’re willing to move to Arran and do a lot of night shifts for me, I can give you a job at Lochranza as a trainee.” And I thought it sounded fantastic, so I jumped on it and stayed at Lochranza for nine years, working as a stillman and a mashman, often six days a week. That’s where I cut my teeth in the industry, learning all there is to know about how a distillery works—what to look for and what the problems can be.
Years later, I was approached by James (who was still Distillery Manager at Lochranza at the time) and Euan Mitchell (the Managing Director of Arran Whisky) about this new distillery they were planning to open. When they asked if I wanted to be Lagg’s distillery manager, I had a bit of imposter syndrome. But then I remembered something my mother taught me “just say yes to everything and deal with the consequences later”. So I did, I said “yes” and here I am.
Having grown up on Islay, what are some of your earliest memories of whisky?
My family home was a bed and breakfast in Bowmore, just a few hundred yards from Bowmore distillery. Growing up, people from all over the world would stay with us—Japanese business men, Americans, Canadians, Germans, you name it. Although, as a wee boy, I hadn't quite grasped the ins-and-outs of the whisky industry, I knew we lived in a special place, since so many people from far-flung countries were coming to visit. I can still hear the sound of people going up the stairwell with bottles of whisky merrily clanging together in their bags.
For someone who’s not familiar with what your role would entail, what’s it like?
It’s kind of a wide cast net, managing a distillery like this. Because we’re still quite a small company. So while my title is “Distillery Manager” there are some jobs that can’t really go anywhere else but to my feet.
My job, first of all, entails production management. So I decide, year-on-year, how we approach our targets, how we address the mashing, the distillation, the fillings etc. I’m responsible for things like when we do them, the volumes, the strengths and all that.
I also choose the releases. So, if our sales and marketing office say they want to launch something by a certain date, I coordinate the team, and gather samples for that release. So It’s a bit of a tasting panel job as well.
There’s also quality control, procurement and logistics of raw materials. And of course, managing our amazing people—the team, our contractors. It’s quite an all-encompassing role.
As much as possible, I also try my hardest to meet members of our Lagg Cask Society in person when they come to visit. These are people who bought some of the first Lagg casks when we first opened, which are still maturing in our warehouse today.
So, you’re from Islay, but you live on Arran. How do you think whisky differs between those regions?
The most obvious difference is the signature taste profiles. Islay is the peat nation: Smoke, smoke, peat, peat, kippers, mackerel, bonfire, tar, machine oil and all that. The peated whisky we make here on Arran isn’t like that. It’s much gentler.
Islay is seen as the Mecca of the whisky world. It’s a pilgrimage for a lot of people, and it’s such an important place. Arran is sometimes seen as the younger sister of Islay. People often come here on their way up to Islay, expecting it to be a stop-off. But more and more, we’re seeing people who, having experienced Arran, acknowledge it as a whisky destination in its own right. I’m really happy to have seen that perception change over the years.
What’s something you wish everyone knew about Lagg?
Just because it’s peated, doesn’t mean it’s going to be a harsh smoke bomb. We’ve crafted quite a delicate, sweet peat at Lagg that’s very unique to us. While peat is part of the profile, it’s not the profile. There are many other flavours that work in tandem with it.
What’s one misconception you’d like to bust about peated whisky?
The idea that peated is only for the “hardcore” whisky drinkers—the top-hatted gentleman with a cane and a beard. But that is not the case at all.
What, in your opinion, makes Lagg so special?
It’s a blending of the new and the old at Lagg. I like to describe it as a modern take on heritage and tradition.
We opened in 2019, and there are distilleries out there that are much older than us. But here, on the south end of Arran, we have such a rich history of illicit whisky distilling. We have real court documents, and placement orders, names, locations and volumes that give us a tangible history of our community.
Lagg’s special because we have this contrast. It’s the best of both. We’re modern and innovative with a real culture of experimentation. But where we are is really the original home, the footprint of whisky on Arran.
What’s your favourite Lagg whisky?
The Corriecravie. I’ve always been quite the sherry-head. And the Corriecravie was my chance of showing that expression in my own kind of way. It’s a combination of first and second fill. Matured first in bourbon casks, then finished for six months in the best-of-the-best oloroso sherry casks. It’s an incredible hue and the quality really shines through.
What are your favourite tasting notes to find in a whisky?
Spice, dark chocolate, raisins, hazelnut, Christmas cake. Basically what you find in a Lagg. I think people accuse me of using this job to make my dream whisky.
What would be your perfect setting to enjoy a glass of whisky?
This is a shameless plug, but it’s an honest truth. Sunset at the Lagg distillery, with Ailsa Craig in the background, on a clear day. (So, one week a year if we’re lucky). It’s not just me, everyone who comes here loves that view from the balcony.
Try Graham’s recommendation—The Lagg Single Malt Corriecravie Edition.