A UNIQUE green field site on the Trossachs tourist trail is on the market complete with planning permission for a visitor centre, restaurant, café, retail shop and events area – and the suggestion that it would make one hell of a site for a distillery.
The Devil’s Pulpit gorge, located under a road bridge halfway along the Stockiemuir Rd between the Glasgow suburb of Bearsden and the Trossachs village of Drymen, is a natural geological feature that has long been popular with tourists, but which has more recently been a magnet for film and television production companies.
Several Hollywood productions have seized on its other-worldly grandeur, including ‘The Eagle’ and ‘Detective Pikachu’, as well as various popular TV programs like ‘Outlander’, ‘Taggart’, and ‘Sherlock Holmes’.
Given this high level of local and global attention, the possibility of an adjacent visitor centre has long been mooted, and planning permission has been granted for just such a development. Coming to the market through Graham + Sibbald, the 23-acre site, 15 miles from Glasgow, has planning permission in place for a visitor centre, as well car parking for 150 vehicles.
But G+S have highlighted that the idea of a distillery on the site has been ‘considered favourably locally’.
“Imagine distilling the Devil’s whisky from the peaty blood red water from the gorge – which runs from a public water supply reservoir – and taking advantage of the golden barley grown in neighboring fields and with Scottish oak casks sourced from woodland on the estate to really heighten its marketing message,” said the company.
“The Devils Pulpit Development Opportunity is perfect for a passionate distiller to make a name for themselves with the Devil’s Whisky – Glenfinnich. The natural phenomenon attracts over 70,000 people per annum which has been predicted to rise to 350,000 if a visitor centre was erected.”
Owner of the land, David Young, said: “There is an opportunity here at Finnich Glen to create a visitor attraction of national importance. It is indeed a beautiful Scottish landmark that is visited by people from all around the world. It has been previously referred to as Scotland’s Grand Canyon in miniature.”
Graham + Sibbald will discuss the freehold price of the land with ‘seriously interested’ parties.
