New dram, new jobs and a visitor hotspot plan for Benbecula

Kate MacDonald and Jonny Ingledew are already well established names in the Islands’ tipple business, as they are the brains behind the successful Downpour Gin.

And now they plan to make even more of a splash with a new whisky and a new distillery at Nunton Steadings in Benbecula.

Kate and Jonny confirmed the Nunton Steadings project – the 18th century building where legend has it that Bonnie Prince Charlie once sheltered in – via social media this week.

Talking about their plans Kate told the Gazette: “It’s been a long time in the planning. We first thought of setting up a whisky distillery back in 2015 and we’ve been planning and working towards it ever since.

“Initially we had planned to build it on a greenfield site near Clachan, but this was proving to be very costly to build from scratch, so we are delighted to be able to purchase Nunton Steadings to speed up our plans for whisky production.”

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.

SEVEN JOBS CREATED INITIALLY

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

The couple hopes the local community and beyond will get behind the £1.5 million project and back the idea. A crowdfunding campaign to invest in the initiative will be launched later this year.

Most of the setup costs will be invested in whisky production equipment with the expectation that seven jobs will be created initially at the new distillery to help in the hands-on production process and at the new visitor centre and community hub.

PRODUCTION START SPRING 2022

The plan is to purchase the whisky equipment by March 2021 with the installation a year later and production starting in spring 2022.

Kate explained: “We’re really wanting to give people the opportunity to own a piece of the business and to come along on the journey with us.

“Unlike a lot of crowd funders that offer rewards, we’ll be offering equity in the business.

“We’ll also be doing a small amount of equity fundraising prior to the crowdfunding campaign for high net worth individuals, so if anybody falls within this category and is interested, then please feel free to get in touch.”

On the other side of the project, the couple aim for this to become a real hub for the community and to attract visitors to the area.

TOURS, TASTINGS, SHOP AND POP-UP CAFE EVENTS

“We’ll be offering tours with tastings, we’ll have a shop, and hopefully have pop up café events,” Kate described.

“Visitors will have a chance to learn about the islands, the local history of the area, and the products that we create. Gaelic will be at the heart of this with tours being offered in Gaelic.”

As for a name? That decision is currently being mulled-over.

“We’ve got a few ideas for the name,” laughs Kate. “All suggestions are being taken!”

The Islands could once only boast a distillery in Stornoway, which was demolished by Sir James Matheson around 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.

To find out more about North Uist Distillery and Kate and Jonny’s plan for Nunton Steadings see: https://www.northuistdistillery.com/