New malt distillery for Fife

InchDairnie Distillery, near Glenrothes in Fife, has opened for business declaring it will be an innovative new player in the malt whisky market – but drinkers will need to be patient before sampling their finished whisky.

MD Ian Palmer at InchDairnie Distillery

The new distillery will produce two million litres of whisky per year, and says it plans a “bold, forward-thinking approach to producing Scotch malt whisky, while remaining respectful of tradition”. In terms of scale, the new distillery sets itself apart from smaller ‘craft’ distilleries currently seeing a surge of popularity in Scotland, and also says it has no plans for a visitor centre at the site.

The project has been founded by Ian Palmer, who has four decades of experience in the Scotch whisky industry, and will create ten new jobs for the area.

The distillery, designed in a boldly modern style, is to use a range of innovative production methods, aimed at energy efficiency and enhancing the flavour of the final whisky.

Palmer says the launch of the distillery is the culmination of a dream, and the product of long experience in the industry: “I’m hugely respectful of traditions, but at InchDairnie our vision is to use technical expertise to capture and nurture all of the flavours from the whisky-making process […] Alongside traditional ingredients such as water, malted barley and yeast, technology and innovation will be important ingredients in our whisky. The contemporary look of the distillery is designed to reflect our approach.”

He added: “We are fortunate not to be under any commercial pressure to release our whisky so we will wait until the whisky is at its absolute best, which could be in ten, 12 or 15 years’ time, only time will tell.”

The distillery is concentrating on building spirit stocks for the future, but will also mantain cashflow by making a malt designed for blending, for sale to its main partner Macduff International.