Ewan, Jamie, and Lachlan MacLean have teamed up with their father, famed Whisky expert Charles MacLean, to release MacLean’s Pillage and Spillage Whiskies. The proceeds from the sale of the two Whiskies will go to Feedback Madagascar in an effort to provide clean water to more than 3,000 people in rural areas of Madagascar.
Six months ago Ewan (28), Jamie (26), and Lachlan (22) became the first three brothers to row any ocean as well as the youngest trio and the fastest trio to ever row the Atlantic. While training for the trip, they visited the 17 whisky distilleries along Scotland’s west coast and “pillaged” Whiskies for the blends. The three brothers worked with their father and Whyte & Mackay master blender Richard Paterson to blend and bottle the two limited edition Pillage and Spillage Whiskies.
Each bottle contains a small amount of Whisky that accompanied the brothers during their 35-day row from La Gomera in the Canary Islands to Antigua in the Caribbean in the Talisker Whisky Atlantic Challenge.
Just 168 bottles of MacLean’s Pillage, a blended Malt, and 299 bottles of MacLean’s Spillage, a blended Scotch, will be available. An additional 700 x 5 cl miniatures of Spillage will also be released. Both whiskies are currently on sale through Royal Mile Whiskies.
The Whiskies are part of the three brother’s campaign “Whisky For Water,” which they launched via their charity, Broar–a portmanteau made from the words brother and oar–which was also the name of their boat.
Motion began two years ago when Lachlan traveled to Madagascar and saw for himself the difference Feedback Madagascar was making to communities. The brothers teamed up with charity and “Whisky for Water” was born. “Ever since we sat down with Feedback Madagascar and dreamed up the ‘Whisky for Water’ campaign, we’ve been overwhelmed by the generosity of the 17 West Coast distilleries which donated whisky to our cause and we’ve loved every minute of working with our Dad,” said Lachlan.
Charles explained about the family’s creation, “What a blender is trying to do is make something that is more than the sum of its parts. To my knowledge, this is the first time that all the distilleries on the west coast have collaborated and we’ve tried to balance the personalities of the different whiskies to create two unique, attractive and very rare blends.
“This whole adventure – helping my boys get organized for the row, watching them break three world records and working with them to create these whiskies – has been a life-changing experience for them, and for me. I’m incredibly proud of them.”
During the course of their row across the Atlantic, the MacLean boys overcame seasickness, battery issues, storms, dehydration, and exhaustion to reach Antigua in just 35 days. Their efforts have already raised more than £140,000 ($175,959 USD) to be split between Scottish children’s charity Children’s 1st and Feedback Madagascar.
The Whiskies are expected to raise around £100k ($125,685 USD), which should allow Feedback Madagascar to build 18 new water wells in rural communities.
Jamie Spencer OBE, Managing Director of the Argyll-based charity, said: “The vast majority of the rural population of Madagascar doesn’t have access to clean water, and dirty water is a killer. In this instance whisky really is ‘the water of life’ – especially under the deadly shadow of Covid-19. Broar’s inspiring efforts and every bottle bought will transform peoples’ lives forever.”
Arthur Motley, purchasing and sales director at Royal Mile Whiskies, added: “Not only is this the first blending project of one of the most respected names in Scottish whisky and a limited edition, but all the proceeds will go to charity. Given those factors and the exquisite taste of both whiskies, we think the bottles could sell out within hours.”
Head over to Royal Mile Whiskies official store to purchase MacLean’s Pillage and Spillage.
