Did You Know a Whisky Fan Once Built a Distillery Out of LEGO?

Tuesday, 21 October 2025 at 15:06

LEGO. You can buy it and construct various items exactly as detailed in the manual. Think of a Game Boy, F1 cars, flowers, and much more. But did you know that someone once built a distillery out of LEGO?

We all know it: LEGO is delightful. LEGO is friendly. The blocks are designed for the masses and many sets are nearly comparable to the ideal son-in-law. What we're saying is, LEGO isn't typically known to step outside the box. Therefore, forget about expecting a set themed around narcotics.

Time in Pandemic: Implementing a LEGO-Concept around Whisky

That means you'll never see an official set of a distillery or a whisky bottle. Julian Martin wasn't pleased with this in 2021.

Fueled by time during the pandemic and a healthy obsession with Scottish whisky, he decided to construct a Scottish whisky distillery out of LEGO blocks in 2021 and 2022.

The result is impressive: Glen Ochtan. No, this is not an existing distillery. It's a clever nod from the creator to Ocan, which is an energy company in the LEGO universe.

Inspired by Real Distilleries

On his website, he writes:

'As I had imagined, Glen Ochtan was built in the shell of a former warehouse, which was carefully converted into a functioning malt whisky distillery on a relatively small scale. In addition to malting, mashing, and distilling, the distillery features a barrel warehouse, a distillery shop, and even a small rooftop bar where guests can enjoy their whisky.
The open-air storefront is inspired by Republic Restoratives, a distillery in Washington D.C. Other elements were inspired by what I saw during a trip to Scotland, where I visited several distilleries on the island of Islay.'

The set received a lot of positive feedback. It was shared on Reddit in 2023, and people went wild over it.

Nowadays, the LEGO set is often showcased whenever Martin organizes tasting events.