New distillery venue and dram planned for the Outer Hebrides

Distillery owners Kate MacDonald and Jonny Ingledew confirmed the purchase via social media, which is set to become their new venue for the established Downpour Gin and for their new tipple, as they take their first steps into the whisky market.

The steadings project will see the 18th-century building - where legend has it Bonnie Prince Charlie once sheltered in – transformed into a community hub and visitor centre.

The company tweeted earlier today (Thursday, July 16th): “We’re very excited to be able to share our big news... We have made a pretty special purchase - investing in a brand new distillery building that we will soon call home. The gorgeous Nunton Steadings will be our new site for whisky production!”

In another tweet, they added: “Our main goal has always been to put the islands on the whisky map and therefore we are incredibly excited to have secured Nunton Steadings which will allow us to fulfill our whisky dream...”

The creation of this new dram will mean it will be the first legally distilled whisky to be created in the Uists.

The new kid on the Outer Hebrides’ whisky block will join the likes of the single malt produced by Abhainn Dearg Distillery at Uig on Lewis and The Hearach which is produced by the Isle of Harris Distillery.

The Islands could once only boast a distillery in Stornoway, which was demolished by Sir James Matheson 170 years ago, but now with distilleries across the region producing several gins, two whiskies and this latest dram being planned, the Islands are once again firmly on the tipple-lovers’ map.