£7.5m attraction is the first Inverness distillery to open in 130 years
Located beside the River Ness, Uile-bheist also includes a brewery and is powered by a low carbon sustainability centre on site.
Last updated 28th Feb 2023
A new visitor attraction which includes the first Inverness distillery in 130 years is now welcoming visitors.
Located beside the River Ness, Uile-bheist also has a brewery and is powered by a low carbon sustainability centre on site.
It is expected to attract 100 tour visits per day during peak season.
Future phases will see the creation of a distilling ‘campus’, with increased capacity, a bonded warehouse with shopping plus enhanced tap room, tasting and visitor spaces.
Bringing whisky distilling back to Inverness
Uile-bheist, Gaelic for ‘monster’, is the first distillery to open in the city since 1892, with the first sought-after casks being filled in the coming days.
Its signature 5 craft ales, ready by early April, will be the first beers brewed in Inverness for 34 years.
Owner Jon Erasmus says he's proud of what he and his team have achieved.
He said: "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.'"
Using water from the River Ness to power the business
Water and energy for Uile-bheist’s whisky production comes from the River Ness through a pioneering district heating system, which uses shallow water wells to fire heat pumps.
Water is treated by fluorescent light with the only grid requirement being electricity, partly provided by the glass-fronted building’s roof-top solar installations.
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.
Master Brewer, Bruce Smith, explained the process.
He said: "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.
"Thereafter the processes for the craft beer and the whisky obviously differ significantly.
“With our whisky, we are looking to forge our own path.
"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."
"Massive change" in whisky tourism
Uile-bheist enlisted Melbourne-based pop culture illustrator, Ken Taylor, who has 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 films Up, Pikachu and How To Train Your Dragon, adorn the tap room and tour space walls.
Jon added: "Whisky tourism has changed massively in the last 5 years.
"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.
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 begins on March 1st, with a full hourly tour programme starting on 1st April.