The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Pals to make moonshine at new distillery
Agroup of Angus friends have revealed plans to create a distillery to brew moonshine, vodka, gin and rum.
Phil Paton, Martin Brown and Campbell Archibald, founders of Angus Alchemy, are converting a disused caravan sales lot near Carnoustie into their new headquarters.
The trio bought the Woodhill site in August 2021 after launching the company the previous March.
They are now transforming it into a visitor attraction and micro-distillery, after being given permission by Angus Council.
Campbell said: “We’ve known each other for 10 years and we’ve always been interested in distilling.
“We got to a point where I was financially capable of putting this together and Phil had just retired, so we decided to go for it.”
The trio plan to make the drinks from locally-sourced ingredients and sell them internationally in an effort to boost tourism.
“We want it to be a bit of a destination,” Campbell said.
“We’re working on a moonshine village to go inside it, with a big barrel entrance.
“We want to take you into another world where you can sample some Scottish alcohol,” he explained.
“We’re hoping to tap into the market of golfers who come to Angus, make it
somewhere people can visit.”
While the trio have no experience in the alcohol industry, both Phil and Martin have taken courses in distilling.
They have also been working one-on-one with
local producers, picking up skills and trade secrets.
Campbell has some business experience – running Angus Grill and Larder in Brechin.
He says he has no concerns about them going into business together.
He added: “We’ve known each other for a really long time and the structure of the business is clear.
“I’m sure that we’ll still have days where one of us is a bit grumpy, but we’ll have plenty of alcohol to deal with it.”