PRESS RELEASE: Excavations distilling the story of Scottish whisky win Current Archaeology’s prestigious Research Project of the Year award for 2025. - Current Archaeology

PRESS RELEASE: Excavations distilling the story of Scottish whisky win Current Archaeology’s prestigious Research Project of the Year award for 2025. - Current Archaeology

Derek Alexander and Dr Daniel Rhodes (National Trust for Scotland, winners of Research Project of the Year 2025) [Photo credit: Adam Stanford, www.adam-stanford.co.uk] A unique partnership between archaeologists and whisky distillers, investigating the illicit production of Scotland’s iconic spirit during the 18th and 19th centuries, has been crowned 2025’s Research Project of the Year in the prestigious Current Archaeology Awards. In order to a…

Distilling a clandestine craft: The archaeology and history of illicit whisky-making

To avoid paying tax, in the 18th and 19th century, small-scale whisky-production went underground, moving to isolated bothies hidden in remote locations across Scotland. Derek Alexander and Daniel Rhodes have been hunting down these sites across the Highlands and bringing their illicit remains to light once more.