Distillery project costing £5m to create 30 jobs
Plant and equipment is expected to cost £2.2m with the construction of the distillery itself also expected to cost £2.5m.
The plan is to complete the work by spring 2023, with expected sales from the new site to reach at least £29.8m within the first ten years of opening.
The new distillery will house a one-tonne single malt installation and re-home Barra’s existing 300-litre gin still ‘Ada’ with all necessary plans for bottling and bonded warehousing.
The plant will be built from sustainable materials and will be powered by renewable energy.
3000,000 bottles
The new production facilities are expected to produce more than 300,000 bottles of single malt whisky and 100,000 litres of pure alcohol per year. Production could double with the addition of an increased workforce.
A new visitor centre incorporating a retail area, information centre and café & bar will also be added to the site.
Alan Winchester – master distiller at the Glenlivet distillery – will join the team, with 43 years’ service to the industry behind him.
Winchester has worked for some of the most famous whisky distilleries in the world, having spent 27 years with Scotch Whiskey business Chivas Brothers as distilling manager.
Gin and whisky
Established in early 2017 by founders Kate and Michael Morrison, The Isle of Barra Distillers currently operates from Castlebay Business Estate where it produces Barra Atlantic Gin. Turnover for the business was in excess of £838,000 in the year to January 2021.
In other distillery news, whisky and spirit producers from Orkney to Cornwall are set to toast an almost £9m cash boost announced by the Government on 20 March supporting plans to create low-carbon green distilleries.
Meanwhile, Traditional Norfolk Poultry (TNP) has invested £5m in expanding its processing capacity for chickens and Christmas turkeys as part of a five year plan to meet increasing consumer demands.
