Glengoyne Distillery, Scotland
Transforming Scotland’s Most Loved Whisky Distillery
Nestled just north of Glasgow is a highland distillery that carefully and slowly brews the award-winning Glengoyne whisky. Since 1833, generations of the Connell family have carried on a unique distillation process that crafts this malt whisky’s bold, complex flavours.
Glengoyne takes pride in being the slowest whisky distillery in Scotland, valuing every effort taken in pursuit of perfection. This distillery remains at its founding location and opens its doors for whisky lovers to immerse themselves in the Glengoyne way.
After a decade of brand work, Contagious invited Leach (2021) to transform the visitor experience at Glengoyne with a collection of external signage and graphics. Preserving the site’s history was essential to all involved, so a dedicated sampling phase was planned to ensure no stone was left unturned.
With a clear brief on Glengoyne’s visual identity, our team began the design process, moving on to sampling, which required extensive testing before the final production stages.
Most of the sampling phase focused on perfecting the external signage, such as the three large-scale roundels (circular signage) that mounted the distillery’s facade and indoor surroundings. We applied stencil and screen-printed graphics, along with individual fret-cut and halo-illuminated letters, to bring these roundels together. Due to their sheer size, our team had to work tirelessly to execute the immense task of printing the roundles. Each sign resembled Glengoyne’s logo to maintain a strong visual identity throughout distillery visits.
We also produced wall-mounted signage and wayfinding totems using metal subframes to house the Corian® used inside. For most signage, we infilled text etching with gold resin and finished some with screen printing.
The Corian® car park totems and roundels were grand in presence and size, requiring considerable work from our experienced installers. Communication was key during installation; everyone worked together to ensure it ran smoothly.
Inside the shop and distillery, we mounted glass signage complete with fret-cut letters and screen print onto brick walls. Safety was a top priority here due to the combustible materials within the distillery.
Glengoyne Distillery is celebrated as Scotland’s most beautiful distillery. Since project completion, on-site visitors have increased by 117%, and retail sales have jumped by 68%. Our collaboration with Contagious and Ian Macleod Distillers, the owners of Glengoyne, was excellent throughout and a great beginning to Glengoyne’s new visitor experience.
Dan Deakin, Business Development Director at Leach, said, “We had great success working with processes and substrates we’d never handled before. The outcome was outstanding – everything from Contagious’ designs to our meticulous sampling aligned with Glengoyne’s guiding principles to keep things tied to their past.”
Want to transform your heritage site? The Leach team offers decades of experience working at visitor attractions with deep historical and cultural significance. Explore our recent work in this sector or contact our team to learn more.
