Inchdairnie.

New Lowland Distillery

Ernie – Ernst J Scheiner, The Gateway to Distilleries at www.whisky-distilleries.net

A joint venture will build a £6.7m distillery in Scotland‘s first post-war new town Glenrothes in the heart of Fife. The partners include the Indian premium drinks group Kyndal and the Perthshire distiller John Fergus & Co. Ltd.

Their plan is to build a malt distillery with a production capacity of 4 million litres per annum with a number of bonded warehouses on a 6ha land adjacent to the Whitehill industrial estate. Members of the Glenrothes area Commitee agreed to the construction in January 2013. A building application was received by the Fife Council in February 2013 and a planning approval has been given in March 2013. See: http://planning.fife.gov.uk/online/applicationDetails.do?activeTab=summary&keyVal=M2ZMO7HF0IF00

Distillation is planned to start in 2015: „Production will continue 24 hours a day, 7 days a week for 48 weeks a year.“

„Yes, the process will require a local water supply and electricity as well as heat. However, the heat supply may be provided through anaerobic digestion from the residue from the plant. None of the resources are considered to be non-renewable or in short supply.“ See Screening Checklist Fife Council http://planning.fife.gov.uk/online/applicationDetails.do?activeTab=documents&keyVal=M01TGOHF01A00

Their intention is to produce whisky which is going mainly to export markets such as India, Africa and the Far East. The distillery will be located just south of Fife airport.

„Scottish Enterprise and its international arm Scottish Development International have been working with the companies on their development plans. The enterprise company is providing a £240,000 regional selective assistance grant while the Scottish Government’s food processing, marketing and cooperation scheme has put up £1.6m in funding.“

„The news was hailed by Fife Council’s business, enterprise, economy and planning spokeswoman Lesley Laird, who said the “fantastic” project would not only generate employment but would emphasise that “Fife means business” See: www.constructionnow.co.uk

Fifteen new jobs will be created. There is no visitor centre planned.

Rumours have it that the distillery will be named Inchdairnie.

The present John Fergus & Co. managing director will be Ian Palmer who has worked with Glen Turner Distillery near Edinburgh.

Information: „Kyndal Group. Ltd. was set up in 2002 as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Whyte & Mackay (then called Kyndal Spirits Ltd). Following the buyout of Whyte & Mackay by India ’s UB Group, the MD of Kyndal Group, Siddharth Banerji led a management buyout of Kyndal Spirit’s rights in the Indian subcontinent in 2006. Today, Kyndal Group is an alcoholic beverages company that manufactures and distributes premium brands in the Indian sub continent, Far East and the Middle East. The company employs over 100 people in India. It has sales offices in 12 cities in India and warehouses in five cities, covering the length and breadth of the country.“ See Scottish Enterprise Development International.

Photos

The distillery’s plot. Copyright: Euan Morrison 2013

About the Author: Ernie – Ernst J. Scheiner M.A. was a director in an adult education centre. Ernie offers courses on whisky distilling, writes for newspapers, magazines and blogs in Germany. He is the editor of The Gateway to Distilleries at www.whisky-distilleries.net which gives an excellent photographic and educational insight into the whisky industry of Scotland, Ireland, Europe and Asia.

Please see also: http://www.whisky-distilleries.net