UK distiller Eden Mill has named Steven Kersley, the former MD of BrewDog's distilling arm, as its new CEO.
In October, BrewDog announced Kersley would be leaving his managing director position at BrewDog Distilling Co. Months later, the Hazy Jane maker confirmed it would be shutting its spirits business.
According to LinkedIn, Rennie Donaldson, now the CFO at Ian Macleod Distillers, held the reins at Eden Mill until October last year.
Based in St Andrews in Scotland, Eden Mill Distillery was acquired from administration in November by investment fund Ruby Capital.
In a statement today (24 April), the gin and whisky maker said the move "marks the beginning of a new chapter for Eden Mill".
It added Kersley takes the position "with an ambitious agenda to establish a world-class spirits brand rooted in its home of St Andrews".
Last year, Ruby Capital, led by Scottish businessman Tony Banks, acquired assets including a distillery near St Andrews, as well as a clutch of gin and whisky brands, for an undisclosed amount.
According to administrators Begbies Traynor at the time, Eden Mill had “significant debt resulting from the challenges of the global whisky sector”.
Commenting on the appointment, Ruby Capital chairman Banks said: "Appointing Steven is the most important step we've taken since acquisition. He understands this industry from the ground up, he has the commercial ambition we need, and he shares our absolute commitment to making whisky of the highest quality. That shared goal is the foundation everything else is built on. We're giving him everything he needs to take our spirits to the world stage."
As well as gin and Scotch whisky brands, Eden Mill also produces liqueurs as well as RTDs and a new make spirit.
In today's statement, Eden Mill said it was creating "momentum under new ownership" which included "an exciting pipeline of whisky and gin releases, and the continuation of the business’s popular private cask programme".
It added: "International expansion sits alongside UK growth as a clear commercial priority".
Eden Mill opened its flagship distillery in St Andrews in October. It houses a includes a cask warehouse, retail space and bar.
Kersley said: "We have an incredible back-catalogue of award-winning spirits, but what excites me most are the spirits that are yet to come. We’re building a whisky programme that's uncompromising in its ambition: a wood policy of serious depth and intention, underpinned by a distillate that's been crafted by layering flavour at every stage of production. We'll be bold in our decision-making in order to make the best whisky possible – and then we'll take it to the world."
