Plans for £5.3m Cabrach distillery approved

Plans for a £5.3 million (US$6.9m) Scotch whisky distillery in Cabrach have been given the green light by Moray Council.

An artist’s impression of the new distillery in Cabrach

Spearheaded by the Cabrach Trust, the distillery will be located in Cabrach on the southern edge of Moray, said to be one of the birthplaces of the Scotch whisky industry and famed for illicit stills and smuggling.

Construction work is set to begin next summer, with production getting underway in 2019 and the first bottling of mature whisky from the distillery made in 2024, with 150,000 bottles expected to be produced each year.

Research is well underway into the distilling, maturation and bottling of a unique whisky, using the blueprint of an early 19th-century distillery with traditional methods.

A share offer will also be announced next year, giving supporters the chance to get involved at an early stage.

The distillery will also include a heritage centre, shop and cafe, and will create 12 jobs as well as training opportunities.

Sue Savege, executive director of the Cabrach Trust, said: “This is a major milestone for us and we are very grateful to the Moray Council, which has been extremely supportive of the plans, and to all those who have contributed to the project.
“The distillery and heritage centre are at the heart of our plans to regenerate the Cabrach and contribute to a sustainable future for this beautiful but remote part of Moray, which has seen a huge decline in population over the years.

“Now we have planning permission in place we are aiming to start work on site in the summer of 2018. In the meantime we are busy working on the final specification of the distillery, which will use historical methods, and conducting further research into the exact balance of ingredients and maturation processes as it’s crucial we get the flavour right for our very own Cabrach whisky.”