5 new Scottish distilleries
Port of Leith distillery, Edinburgh
From fabled Rosebank, the ‘King of the Lowlands’, mothballed 30 years ago, to Edinburgh’s answer to Manhattan - a gleaming 40m high whisky skyscraper in Leith, five distilleries poised to open soon
Port of Leith, Edinburgh
A new height of whisky sophistication arrives in Edinburgh this year, quite literally, as a revolutionary 40m tall £12m vertical distillery rising up above the Royal Yacht Britannia on the quayside, prepares to launch in Leith.
More Manhattan skyscraper than your average traditional Scottish distillery, the 9-storey structure will house both the whisky production facilities - grain milling and mashing at the top, down through fermentation, to distillation at the bottom - and a rooftop bar with incredible views to Edinburgh castle in one direction and across to Fife in the other.
Innovation is embedded in the business DNA of the duo behind the venture. Ian Stirling and Paddy Fletcher are self-confessed whisky fanatics and the brains behind Lind and Lime gin distillery, and it’s likely their stated desire to experiment with fermentation and yeast in particular will result in a fascinating and fresh range of flavours emanating from their whisky.
Dunphail, Moray
High-quality and locally grown barley, traditional floor maltings on-site (a rarity these days), a long fermentation regime and slow, direct-fire distillation….Dunphail, a new maker located south of Forres in Morayshire, is a ‘resolutely traditional’ distillery, albeit one with a spankingly modern visitor centre, blending rooms and dunnage warehouses. It sounds like a compelling mix of heritage and high-tech.
The whisky team are first rate too, Dunphail being the brainchild of the group behind London’s excellent Bimber Distillery, whose small batch hand-crafted whiskies the Barley team were lucky enough to sample last year (new bottlings disappear faster than you can say, ‘A distillery? In Acton?’). There’s a promise to provide a big visitor experience at Dunphail, but it’s the drams we’re looking forward to - full-bodied and fruity in both peated and unpeated styles.
Portintruan distillery, Islay
Though still under construction at the time of publication, the anticipation is growing for the arrival of this new distillery from Elixir located just outside Port Ellen on Islay, as Dave Broom reveals in his new story about the island for Barley.
“Elixir has always taken a flavour-led approach, and this will be the Portintruan philosophy as well”, Sukhinder Singh, co-owner of the distillery told Whisky Magazine. “We will be utilising a number of old-style production techniques which we believe will accentuate the depth and character of the spirit.”
A staunch commitment to sustainability underpins the new operation, and our eye was caught in particular by the ingenious heat loop that will ensure the maximum amount of water is recycled and reused, with the heat recovered for other processes too.
The footprint of Portintruan outside Port Ellen, Islay
14 houses for Islay families working at the distillery are being built, there will be a vistor’s centre and a bar, a restaurant, a tasting room and an education facility to serve as an apprenticeship programme base.
Oh, and if you want to make sure to receive a really warm welcome, it’s pronounced ‘Port-nah-truan’, the name meaning ‘place of the stream’ and derived from the historic farm estate where the distillery is located.
Also on Islay, the historic Port Ellen distillery is due to reopen in 2023, 35 years after it was closed.
Benbecula distillery,
Outer Hebrides
A tantalising tot of information on the homepage reads - ‘Distillation starts in 2023.’ Our whistle is whetted. But then it was already: the father and son team of Angus E and Angus A MacMillan have established solid spirits credentials with their classy bottling and blending operation, which produces a small, elegantly designed artisan range of rum, whisky (distilled on Islay) and gin, the latter a gorgeous liquid made with hand-picked wild angelica root and heathers found in abundance on the low-lying crofting land.
There’s nothing modest about the whisky distillery plans: 500,000 bottles per year is the aim, and a hope that the enterprise will create a dozen jobs. We’re already planning our visit, but if you need any further motivation to make the journey yourself, there will be a storytelling corner, a seafood bar and a Lighthouse offering 360 degree views over Benbecula looking as far as Skye, Harris and the Monach Isles. To sign up for updates on the opening, visit the team’s website (see above).
Rosebank, Falkirk
A genuine ghost distillery, and a spirit reawakened indeed, Rosebank was famously lauded as ‘King of the Lowlands’ in its heyday for its exceptional whisky, non peated, triple distilled, with a gentle fruity floral style. And now it’s back.
Situated on the banks of the Forth and Clyde canal between Edinburgh and Glasgow, the famous distillery lay dormant for a quarter of a century, after it was mothballed in 1993 by former owner UDV (now Diageo) and its maltings were converted into a restaurant.
It was saved from becoming a footnote in history by Ian Macleod Distillers in 2017, who took on the painstaking restoration process that should see the grand old place back up and running this year.
