Port of Leith Distillery opened

Among the vast number of newly emerging whisky distilleries in Scotland, each is somehow trying to stand out in order to make its mark on consumers as quickly and permanently as possible. In the case of the Port of Leith distillery in Edinburgh, this uniqueness arose from the conditions under which it came to build this remarkable plant.

Port of Leith is, in its own words, the UK's first vertical distillery. The distinctive tower has been under construction on the harbourfront in Edinburgh's Leith district since 2020. The small plot of land that was available for the distillery forced the designers to adopt this solution. This is because unlike traditional distilleries, where production takes place on more or less the same level, at Port of Leith the apparatus for carrying out the various phases of production had to be placed one above the other, vertically just.

And yes, an observation deck and bar has been placed at the very top, offering views in all directions, including the Royal Yacht Brittannia moored right next door. Below that you will find the mash vat, below that the fermentation vats, even lower the alembics.

The venture is a dream come true for two whisky entrepreneurs and Edinburgh residents, Ian Stirling and Paddy Fletcher. In their own words, they have always wondered why, with so much interest in Scotch whisky, there is still not a single distillery in the capital city. The situation has changed in time, at the foot of Arthur's Seat hill, almost in the center of the city for several years Holyrood Distillery operates, nearby, also in Leith operates Bonnington Distillery, but this has not cooled their enthusiasm. The work, which began in 2020, was significantly delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic, but they got it right. The distillery team was headed by Vaibhav Sood, previously employed as a manager at Lakes Distillery.

The distillery cost £12 million to build. From the very beginning, its construction plans included its tourist function. It is estimated that by the end of this year the distillery will receive about 25,000 visitors, and by 2025 this number will increase to 160,000 per year. It will thus be the largest tourist attraction in Leith.

The construction of the distillery at this site also has symbolic significance. It was the port of Leith that served as a kind of blender hub. It was here that ships loaded with rum and sherry arrived in the 19th and 20th centuries, it was from here that Scotch whisky set off to conquer the world. It was in Leith that the blender houses were headquartered, where the whisky produced in various regions of Scotland was blended to be shipped overseas.

The Port of Leith will eventually employ 50 people - both in production and in serving tourists. According to sources, the distillery is expected to produce about one million bottles of whiskey a year.


[27.09.2023 / photo: Muckle Brig Ltd.]