£5.3 million Speyside distillery and visitor attraction gets the go-ahead

Work is expected to start next year on a new Speyside distillery which uses historical methods of distilling and bottling, after plans were approved by Moray Council. Funding for the £5.3 million project will come from a mix of social finance, grants and charitable trusts and foundations, with several funding applications currently being progressed.

The distillery will be located in the wild and remote Cabrach area on the southern edge of Moray, said to be one of the birthplaces of the Scotch whisky industry - famed for illicit stills and smuggling in years gone by.

Research is well underway into the distilling, maturation and bottling of a unique whisky, using the blueprint of an early 19th-century distillery with traditional methods.

Construction work is set to begin summer 2018, with production getting underway the following year, with the first bottling of mature whisky in 2024, with around 150,000 bottles expected to be produced each year.

The centre will create 12 jobs as well as training opportunities.

“Our new centre will help to sustain the local economy..."

Sue Savege, executive director of the Cabrach Trust, said: “The distillery and heritage centre are at the heart of our plans to regenerate the Cabrach and contribute to a sustainable future for this beautiful but remote part of Moray, which has seen a huge decline in population over the years."

“Our new centre will help to sustain the local economy by bringing in visitors as well as creating 12 jobs, including training opportunities for graduates and local college leavers keen to get experience in both distilling and hospitality, and heritage management work"

Earlier this year, researchers commissioned by the Trust discovered the site of an illicit whisky bothy - thought to date back to the early 19th-century - sheltered by a small crag and built into the side of the hill, offering smugglers a vantage point to keep an eye out for excise men on the nearby highway.

The adjacent interactive heritage centre will include a café, exhibition space for public and private hire and a gift shop, built around a courtyard and overlooking the River Deveron and the Cabrach hills.

The visitor centre will offer an engaging and informative experience, with a dedicated interpretation centre, a flexible performance and exhibition space and smuggling trails, designed to appeal to whisky enthusiasts, heritage lovers and children alike.

Earlier this year, Moray Council approved a community asset transfer which has seen the Cabrach Trust taking over the ownership of several buildings previously owned by the Council.

The Acorn Centre - formerly the Lower Cabrach Primary School and used as a community facility - will be repurposed as a bonded warehouse for the distillery, while the Old Cabrach Hall will be used as a much-needed community centre and training venue.

The former schoolhouse will provide accommodation for workers as well as being used as a holiday let.