SECRET SERVICE
Launching a new distillery in Glenrothes on the QT is no mean feat
It is quite a feat, in today’s world, to build a fully operational distillery and manage to keep it a secret from the press and whisky geeks alike. But that is just what InchDairnie Distillery near Glenrothes in Fife has done.
Back in early 2013, I mentioned in this column that plans had been submitted for a new distillery in Glenrothes and the confusion it may cause with The Glenrothes Distillery in Rothes, Speyside. There was a bit of news in the Fife press saying that building work had been started in the summer of 2014, then silence.
Announcements of new distilleries are not uncommon and, for a variety of reasons, it is often the case that they don’t get off the ground. The most likely cause is a lack of funding, but I’ve also heard of plans for a new distillery being scrapped because they didn’t have an adequate water source. So this proposed Glenrothes distillery just dropped off the radar.
However, I was one of a small press group invited to attend the distillery’s public unveiling in May 2016. The invite stated that good footwear and warm clothing might be needed, and many of us assumed we would be visiting a building site. What we saw when we turned the corner on an industrial estate on the edge of Glenrothes, was a sleek and modern-looking building (the distillery) along with a Scandinavian-style office and two large warehouses. (Signage had only gone up a couple of days before the launch event in order to maintain secrecy during construction.)
InchDairnie is the brainchild of managing director Ian Palmer, who has a sterling track record. Ian has been in the whisky industry for nearly 40 years, latterly as distilling director at Whyte & Mackay, and general manager at Glen Turner Ltd, which operates Glen Moray distillery and Starlaw Distillery, the newest grain distillery in Scotland.
InchDairnie will produce two million litres of alcohol per year, with a capacity of up to four million if required in the future.
What is most fascinating about InchDairnie, is the way Ian has chosen to challenge the ‘normal’ ways of making whisky. Everything is well thought out and the distillery has been built to be as efficient as possible as well as allow greater control of the final flavour.
InchDairnie also has some unique innovations, which will play an interesting role in the flavour of the spirit. For example, in an industry first, they will use seasonal barley, including rarely used winter barley. They also use a hammer mill, instead of a roller mill, to produce a finer grist to get more flavour from the barley. Instead of a mash tun they have a mash filter (imagine a giant accordion that expands and contracts to extract the flavours). Fermentation takes place in stainless steel fermenters outside the main building, rather than wooden washbacks seen inside most distilleries.
InchDairnie will produce two different spirits; Strathenry and InchDairnie. The main differences being the barley, type of yeast used, cut points during distillation and cask maturation, and Strathenry will be sold to blenders.
The spirit will not be bottled until Ian believes it is ready and suggests it could be 2029 before we first get to see bottles of InchDairnie single malt. There are no plans for a visitor centre and not a mention of gin.
I get the feeling InchDairnie is giving us a glimpse of how distilleries of the future will look and operate. With its excellent eco credentials and efficiency, maximum control of flavour and spirit production, InchDairnie is certainly not jumping on the whisky-boom bandwagon but is here for the long run. Although it might be quite some time before we hear anything from them again.
‘Inch Dairnie also has some unique innovations, which will play an interesting role in the flavour’