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Wemyss takes over Fife distillery build
The Wemyss family has taken over the build of the Kingsbarns Distillery near St. Andrews in Fife, three years after planning started.
Wemyss expects to start distilling at the Kingsbarns Distillery in Fife this summer
The family of independent whisky bottlers has taken over the project conceived by Doug Clement to convert a derelict 18th century farm steading into a craft distillery.
Clement, a former caddie, managed to tap whisky lovers and golf fans for an initial £100,000 together with a £150,000 grant from Scottish Enterprise.
To raise the remaining £1.85m, crowd funding was sought last March, but failed to achieve the total. The Wemyss family took over when the government grant was raised to £670,000.
Announcing the decision, William Wemyss said: “This rare opportunity to distil our own single malt whisky and develop a new Scotch whisky brand to support our existing business as an independent bottler. It will secure the family interest in Scotch for the next generation.”
The company’s brands include The Spice King, The Peat Chimney and Darnley’s View Gin.
With its two stills and capacity of 150,000 litres, the new distillery is just six miles from St.Andrews, the home of golf, and hopes to attract at least 25,000 visitors a year. Work is due to start in March and is expected to be completed by Summer 2014.