Former Ardbeg Distillery Manager Reemerges, But Not in Whisky Distilling

Tuesday, 05 August 2025 at 08:02Bairds Malt Limited

Former Ardbeg distillery manager Colin Gordon is back in the whisky industry. He has left the distillery to return to the roots of whisky: Gordon has taken up work at a major malting house.

Who is Colin Gordon?
Until recently, Colin Gordon was the distillery manager at Ardbeg.

What is Bairds Malt Limited?
A large malting company in Essex.

What is Gordon’s new role at the malting company?
He will be the Distilling Sales Manager.

Renowned distillery manager now works with malt

Colin Gordon was until recently the distillery manager at Ardbeg. After five years of service at the Islay distillery, he had seen enough of peat and announced his departure.

Now he is returning to the basis of whisky making: malt. Gordon is to be the new Distilling Sales Manager at Bairds Malt Limited, a major malting house that supplies various whisky makers in Scotland. Gordon takes over from Graham Manson, who retires in September.

The malting house is pleased to have hired the former Ardbeg manager, the company reports on LinkedIn.

From malt to whisky and back again to malt

With the move to Bairds Malt Limited, Gordon's career has come full circle. He began his career in the whisky industry at Port Ellen Maltings, where he worked as a malting manager. He then moved to Lagavulin Distillery on Islay, where he became distillery manager.

In 2020, he took the reins at Ardbeg, where he oversaw both production and visitor experience during a period of increasing international demand for peat whisky.

New focus for Bairds Malt

With the arrival of Gordon, the focus of Bairds Malt is further strengthened. The company was looking for someone with experience in the whisky industry and existing connections with distilleries. The former Ardbeg manager already had these through his previous positions.

With Gordon on board, Bairds Malt wants to cater to the growing demand for malt for premium whisky.