THE owners of a Dumbarton whisky events and education business want to put the town on the map as they tap into the global drinks market.

Dràm Mòr, which provides whisky experiences for avid whisky fans and newcomers to Scotland’s national drink, was launched in 2013 when creator Kenny Macdonald started carrying out whisky tastings and training bar staff.

Kenny told the Reporter: “My grandfather, Alex Macdonald, had worked as head foreman in Leven Distillery for many years before returning to the Hebrides when he retired, so there has always been a whisky thing in the family.

“My wife Viktorija joined me and we started to look at what else we could do rather than just run whisky tastings.

“Following a visit to Glengoyne with Viktorija’s brother and his wife, a question was asked – ‘can we buy this in Lithuania?’

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“Nobody really knew the answer, but we were given a number. Three calls later we ended up talking to one of the sales directors who wanted to know why we were asking.

“Viktorija was pretty well connected at home and outlined a plan to find the right distributor and route to market for them if it was of interest and thus started our next step of opening up foreign markets for companies such as Ian Macleod Distillers, Arran Malts, Speyside Distillers and Wemyss Malts to name but a few.”

And Kenny and Viktorija have gone from strength to strength ever since and they now bottle their own whisky.

Kenny added: “The response has been superb. We only managed to get to one major festival for Dràm Mòr before the lockdown hit, [but] the response was beyond our expectations.”

Dràm Mòr has also just agreed a deal to sell its whisky in Nuremberg, Germany, while Kenny still offers classes to whisky fans across the world during lockdown.

Kenny said. “As we grow we would also like to bring back a bit more of the whisky history that Dumbarton has, and we will be really focusing on images like the Rock and The Leven in our advertising, to show Dumbarton as more than a former ship building town.

“My uncle Alistair Macdonald, who was Provost for many years, was always looking for ways to promote Dumbarton so if we can help then we would be delighted to do so.”

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