Maclean brothers launch 34-year-old whisky to mark Pacific record
By Sophie Arundel
A rare 34-year-old Speyside single malt has been released to celebrate the Maclean brothers’ record-breaking Pacific Ocean crossing, with every bottle funding clean water for life in Madagascar.
A 34-year-old Speyside single malt has been launched to celebrate the Maclean brothers’ world record-breaking row across the Pacific Ocean, with proceeds supporting clean water projects in Madagascar.
The whisky, drawn from a single 1991 Auchroisk cask donated by Diageo, marks the brothers’ 9,750-mile, 139-day unsupported journey from Lima, Peru to Cairns, Australia. Jamie, Ewan and Lachlan Maclean arrived in Cairns on 30 August 2025, setting a new world record for the fastest human-powered crossing of the Pacific Ocean.
Single cask tribute bottled as record is set
While the brothers rowed into Cairns Marina to hundreds of supporters, a single cask of Auchroisk whisky – filled on 15 August 1991, six months before eldest brother Ewan was born – was being bottled at Auld Bond Bottlers in Perth, Scotland.
Only 248 bottles of the 34-year-old Speyside single malt are being released. The whisky was matured in virgin oak and bottled at 44.5% ABV. The cask was hand-selected by whisky writer and expert Charles Maclean MBE, the brothers’ father and co-founder of The Maclean Foundation.
Describing the whisky, Charles Maclean said: “Far and away the finest example of Auchroisk I have ever encountered – rich and sumptuous, sophisticated and multi-layered, entirely satisfying.”
Released through The Maclean Foundation, each bottle sold will fund clean water for life for at least one person in Madagascar. The charity has already raised £1 million, supporting clean water projects for more than 40,000 people, after the brothers completed their row ahead of their fundraising target. The total was reached in the days following their arrival thanks to more than 14,000 donors.
The Auchroisk release follows three previous charity bottlings in support of the Foundation, with Ardnamurchan, Glen Scotia and the Isle of Raasay.
Ewan Andrew, President, Global Supply and Chief Sustainability Officer at Diageo, said: “We’re proud to support the Foundation with this cask, who share our mission of improving access to clean water in communities. Water is our most important ingredient, but it is also a precious shared resource that is facing increasing pressure in many parts of the world. Real change comes through collective action, and the Maclean Foundation is showing just what working in partnership can achieve.”
Eldest brother Ewan Maclean (33) added: “We are so grateful to Diageo for donating the cask. When we rowed into Cairns to hundreds of people cheering, we had no idea this whisky was being bottled for us back in Scotland. To come home and see it – and to know it will fund even more water projects – is overwhelming in the best possible way, as is the support we’ve received from the entire whisky industry.”
The whisky is priced at £349 and is available exclusively from Royal Mile Whiskies.
