The distillery and brewery will open in November 2022
Claimed to be the first time in nearly 40 years, Inverness will welcome the opening of a new distillery – Uilebheist - which will be sustainably powered through the water from the river Ness.
At £6 million, the new distillery and brewery will create around 40 new jobs, with production of both beer and whisky to begin this year. The brewery’s five core beer styles will be available to purchase in November later this year.
Production methods are to maintain the principles of single malt Scotch production, with the deep-rooted traditions always respected in the country, but with plenty of flexibility to still be innovative and original.
Uilebheist (phonetically EWL-uh-vehst) is Scottish Gaelic for ‘monster,’ with the name said to have the intent of connecting Scotland’s present to its ancient past.
Uilebheist owner, Jon Erasmus, commented on the formation: “The very foundations of this project were born from Scottish myth and legend. We wanted to create something unique to the area, with the distillery, and brewery both powered by the famous River Ness. All water used in the processes will also be sourced from the river, meaning that when you drink Uilebheist’s liquid, you really are tasting the Highlands. Creating both beer and whisky simultaneously will allow us to offer an immediate product and whilst we wait for the whisky to reach maturity, there will be an opportunity to own one of a limited number of casks of the Uilebheist Single Malt Whisky distilled in the first year of production, through our cask programme.”
The distillery will allegedly be on track to become one of the lowest carbon distilleries in Scotland upon launching, with onsite heat pumps within the sustainability centre said to be a key factor to this.
Appointed Uilebheist Master Brewer & Distiller Bruce Smith commented: “We are on track to officially open in November 2022 and begin beer production which visitors can enjoy in the taproom. Whisky production will commence later this year, due to our small scale we will only produce around 200 casks annually, making Uilebheist one of
the rarest whiskies in Scotland. The whisky will be matured in ex-bourbon and sherry casks, but the whisky will let us know when it’s ready and we have no intention to rush it. Quality is our number one focus.”
Slàinte.