Having been with Diageo’s scotch whisky distilleries for 14 years, most recently as manager for the Port Ellen Distillery Revival project, Crawford will join Elixir Distillers this summer for the construction of the distillery site on Islay’s south coast.

Sukhinder Singh, co-founder of Elixir Distillers, said: “Having grown up on Islay, attending school a stone’s throw from our distillery site, Crawford’s love for the island and all its distilleries is unrivalled.

“She not only shares our passion for Islay whisky, but also our vision for the future and I know that she will bring both exceptional expertise and a fresh approach to a new Islay distillery.”

Crawford’s career in Scotch whisky began at The Vaults in Edinburgh, the home of The Scotch Malt Whisky Society in 2002, before working for brands such as Talisker, Glen Ord and Teaninich.

It was her role as manager at Lagavulin that brought Crawford back to Islay and, in 2018, she joined the revival project of Diageo’s Port Ellen distillery.