Bid to create Scotland's first community-owned whisky distillery

Community ownership of land in the Highlands has proved popular and whisky production could be next

Glen Wyves hopes to raise £1.5 million for the project as a celebration of Scotland’s national drink (Flickr Sayot)

A whisky firm in the Scottish Highlands is inviting the public to invest what they hope will be the country's first ever community-owned distillery.

The Glen Wyvis Community Benefit Society, based in Dingwall, has launched a share offer to raise £1.5m for the new distillery.

The firm, in conjunction with lottery-funded body Community Shares Scotland (CSS), is offering investment opportunities for as little as £250 to people living in all the surrounding IV postcode areas – and between £750 and £100,000 to anybody, regardless of where they live.

Community ownership of land has taken off in Scotland, particularly in the Highlands where large swathes of the countryside are owned by a handful of large landowners.

Under the controversial Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003, communities were given new rights to buy the estates where they live.

However the bid to set up community ownership of a whisky distillery appears to be a first.

John Mckenzie, founding director of Glen Wyvis Community Benefit Society and a local farmer, said: “We’re offering people from both locally and further afield to invest in a first for Scotland and Dingwall.

“Our aim is to make Dingwall the craft distilling town for Scotland.”

The oldest-recorded whisky distillery in Scotland was established by the Forbes of Culloden family in 1690 just east of Dingwall – there were many 'unofficial' ones before – but the last of the town's original distilleries closed down 90 years ago.

The Glen Wyvis Community Benefit Society hopes the new distillery will “reinstate craft whisky distilling to the Dingwall area".

Directors of the firm say that as well as being "100 per cent community-owned", the new distillery will be powered entirely by green energy.

Rosie Gallagher, of the Scottish Whisky Association, spoke of the lasting popularity of whisky in Scotland.

"There are a lot of new distilleries popping up in Scotland, partly because whisky is a massive export, with just over £4bn worth being exported to 200 countries each year," she said.

"But it also shows how popular the drink still is in Scotland. Whisky has a long history, having been around for 500 years, and it is important to local people."

Investors who buy between £250 and £749 of shares will receive a bottle of whisky and a bottle of gin in the third year.

Investors in the £15,000 to £49,000 bracket will have their name added to the wall or roof of the distillery, a bottle of whisky every Burns Night for 10 years and a private 30-minute helicopter whisky tour.

Any investments over £50,000 are “considered by application only”.

Construction of the distillery is due to commence in June 2016, with the first run of whisky planned for Burns Night in January 2017.

The distillery will produce craft Scottish whisky, and there are also plans for an associated visitor centre to help recreate Dingwall as the craft distillery town of Scotland and as a popular tourism destination.