Inverness’ first new distillery in 130 years has officially opened – the £7.5m Uile-bheist facility on the River Ness. The name is Gaelic for ‘monster’.
The opening marks the return of an industry that left the Highlands capital during the ‘whisky loch’ days of the 80s, when global production outstripped demand, leading to distillery closures.
Inverness was once Scotland’s malting hub, home to the Glen Mhor, Glen Albyn and Millburn distilleries, with rare bottles still fetching high prices. Now the owners of Uile-bheist have high hopes – and big plans – for their modern facility, which is powered by low carbon energy and runs an innovative shared system for the initial stages of both whisky and beer production.
‘Quality’ tourism is to the fore in the business plan, with Uile-bheist aiming to attract 100 tour visits per day in peak season. Future phases of development will see the creation of a distilling campus, with increased capacity, a bonded warehouse with shopping, plus enhanced tap room, tasting and visitor spaces.
Already, the first whisky casks are being filled, while five signature craft ales will be ready by early April – the first beers brewed in Inverness for 34 years.
Owner Jon Erasmus explained: “Our scale is craft, not volume. It’s great to bring whisky distilling and brewing back to the city but we also wanted a high level of design specification throughout, from the stills to the dramming area, to the tap room.
“If people have travelled from New York or Tokyo, or if they’ve seen a lot of other distilleries, we want them to come here and think: I really like what they’ve done here. Everything is photogenic.”
Water and energy for Uile-bheist’s whisky production comes from the River Ness through a district heating system which uses shallow water wells to fuel heat pumps – a clean energy process which has been described as ‘exemplary’ for local conditions.
The production of the low carbon whisky and craft beer comes through a dual technology developed by, and imported from, famous German brewing innovators and coppersmiths, Kaspar Schulz.
“We are using an efficient set-up which effectively ‘shares’ the equipment up to a point in the initial process, with some subtle differences in recipe and process,” said Master Brewer, Bruce Smith, who last worked for Innis and Gunn. “Thereafter the processes for the craft beer and the whisky obviously differ significantly.
“With our whisky, we are looking to forge our own path,” said Bruce. “We are not going to bind ourselves to traditions of the 1800s. We want to be a little experimental. Basically, we will release the first whisky only when we are proud of it and feel it truly represents the brand.”
Uile-bheist enlisted Melbourne-based pop culture illustrator, Ken Taylor – who has previously worked with Jack White, The Pixies and Pearl Jam – to design their ‘monster’ motif.
Large scale installations by the designer, who also created posters for the films ‘Up’, ‘Pikachu’ and ‘How To Train Your Dragon’, adorn the tap room and tour space walls.
“Whisky tourism has changed massively in the last 5 years,” said Mr Erasmus. “You have Johnnie Walker on Edinburgh’s Princes Street and Macallan investing heavily in visitor experience. It is pointless doing this unless your emphasis is on quality.”
Uile-bheist will produce 200-300 casks of Highland Single Malt per year, rising to 500-600 in development Phase 3. Investors can now purchase the very first limited run of 100 casks.
Around 350 000 litres of craft beer a year will be produced on-site, piped directly to their visitor tap room, adjacent to the brewing floor.
A limited ‘Discovery’ tour programme has already begun, with a full hourly tour programme starting on 1st April.
