GlenWyvis Distillery

About the offer

Glenwyvis Distillery Community Benefit Society, based in the historic Highland town of Dingwall, is realising its long held ambition to create Scotland's very first community-owned craft whisky distillery. Exactly 270 years to the day after the Battle of Culloden, GlenWyvis launches its Community Share Offer to raise over £1.5m of investment that will help to put whisky distilling back at the heart of Dingwall.

The launch, organised in conjunction with Community Shares Scotland (CSS), will offer investment opportunities for as little as £250 to locals living in all IV postcode areas. This will ensure a high level of local ownership of the distillery, but the Share Offer is also open to whisky lovers worldwide with investment opportunities rising in tranches* to a maximum investment of £100,000.

Built on History

Whisky has been made in Ross-shire and Inverness-shire for centuries and inspiration has been taken from former distilleries: Ferintosh, Ben Wyvis in Dingwall and Glenskiach in Evanton. The original Ferintosh Distillery was established by the Forbes of Culloden family in 1690, on the Black Isle just east of Dingwall, and is one of the oldest recorded whisky distilleries in Scotland. The new Distillery will re-instate craft whisky distilling to the Dingwall area, some 90 years after the last of the town's original distilleries closed down.

The famous Ferintosh brand of the day was a much loved whisky throughout Scotland and was a favourite of Scotland's great bard Rabbie Burns, who lamented: Thee, Ferintosh! O sadly lost! Scotland lament frae coast to coast! ... on its closure in 1785.

Powered by Nature

The new GlenWyvis Distillery will be built on a farm above the town of Dingwall and will be 100% community-owned distillery and 100% powered by green energy.

The distillery is the brainchild of the Flying Farmer, John F Mckenzie, supported by a board of directors and local community representatives. John said:

"We have a truly winning combination here of a stunning Scottish Highland location, immense historical appeal linking back to Culloden, Burns and Ferintosh and readily available hydro, solar and wind energy to bring this innovative whisky project to fruition.

From the outset we have envisaged the project as more than a distillery. It is an opportunity for all social investors to help reinvigorate the historic town of Dingwall. GlenWyvis will be built on its whisky heritage, its community-ownership and its environmental credentials. We have amazing local resources and will be using only local barley from a farmers' cooperative . 

There is a real buzz around Dingwall at the moment as our local football team Ross County has just won the Scottish Football League Cup and now we are launching our community-owned distillery. It's double plaudits all round!"

Plans

Construction of the distillery is due to commence in June 2016 with the first run of whisky planned for Burns Night 25 January 2017. The distillery will produce craft Scottish whisky and there are plans for an associated Visitor Centre in the town to be added as part of a wider plan to recreate Dingwall as the Craft Distillery Town of Scotland, and as a quality tourism destination on the North Coast 500 route.

Share Offer

Former First Minister of Scotland, Alex Salmond showing his support for GlenWyvis:

Commenting on the share offer Kelly McIntyre, Programme Manager, CSS said:

"This is one of the biggest community projects we have been involved in and we hope it will make a seismic impact in the kind of projects that we will see coming forward to work with Community Shares Scotland in the future.

Glenwyvis has a truly international appeal with an amazing whisky heritage story which will strike a chord with expat Scots and the Scottish Diaspora worldwide and has the added impact of sitting nicely along the North Coast 500 route. And with its historic story links to Forbes of Culloden there is all the more reason for investors and visitors alike to become involved."

Scott Armstrong, VisitScotland Regional Partnerships Director, said:

"In Scotland's Year of Innovation, Architecture and Design, it is fantastic to hear about this innovative scheme, which ensures a high level of local ownership of the distillery. Whisky is one of our strongest draws for visitors and I am delighted that GlenWyvis has taken this opportunity to tell their own whisky heritage story.

With an associated visitor centre also planned, this offers another stop-off point which we would hope will increase visitor numbers to the town. Without tourism, many remote communities would not be sustainable and business sectors like drinks, retail or construction would be severely impacted.

Our visitor research has revealed that the one thing that makes Scotland different to any other destination is its ability to stir your soul. Through our ambitious new global Spirit of Scotland campaign and #ScotSpiritsocial movement, VisitScotland is working to raise the profile of Scotland to unprecedented levels as a place to visit, invest and live – and this project really does have #ScotSpirit!"

Path to the Stills

Important documents

Risk Warning: Funding pitches through Crowdfunder.co.uk carries some risk. There is no guarantee for members making donations that any reward offered will be delivered. Equally, when members invest in community shares the capital they invest is at risk and they may not get back what they put in. Rewards based crowdfunding and the sale of community shares are not regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority, nor covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme. Click here to read more about the risks.