Dingwall, at the head of the Cromarty Firth in the Scottish Highlands, had been without a working distillery since 1926, when both of the town’s earlier distilleries, Ben Wyvis and Glenskiach, closed during the industry downturn of the era. GlenWyvis takes its name from these two lost distilleries and set out to revive the town’s distilling tradition after a 90 year gap.
The idea began in 2011 with former army officer and helicopter pilot John McKenzie, who wanted to build an eco-friendly distillery above the town that would also benefit the local community. Planning permission followed in 2014, and GlenWyvis Distillery Ltd was incorporated in March 2015. A crowdfunding share offer launched in April 2016 raised £2.6 million from more than 2,000 investors in 77 days, and a second offer in 2017 took the shareholder total past 3,000, making GlenWyvis the world’s first distillery to be entirely community-owned.
Construction ran through 2017, and the distillery opened on 30 November that year, St Andrew’s Day. Production of both whisky and gin began in 2018 under distillery manager Duncan Tait, formerly of Mortlach. GlenWyvis runs entirely off-grid, drawing power from its own wind turbine, hydro scheme, solar panels and a wood chip biomass boiler, with process water taken from an on-site borehole. A fire in the biomass fuel store in October 2019 briefly interrupted production and trimmed that year’s output.
GlenWyvis does not currently offer tours or a visitor centre on-site, though the distillery operates a shop and visitor space, GlenWyvis Basecamp, in Dingwall itself. GlenWyvis is part of the Highland Whisky region
GlenWyvis whiskies
GlenWyvis has released its single malt as a series of numbered, vintage-dated batches rather than a fixed core range, reflecting its short production history and the variation between the casks laid down in its first years. All releases to date come from spirit distilled in the distillery’s own wash and spirit stills and have been bottled without chill filtration or added colour.
- Inaugural Release, Batch 01/21 – the first single malt release from the distillery, distilled in 2018 and matured for 3 years in first-fill Tennessee whiskey barrels, first-fill Moscatel casks and refill whisky hogsheads. Bottled in 2021 at 50% ABV, non-chill filtered and natural colour. 2,000 bottles.
- Batch 02/18 – the second release from the 2018 vintage and the distillery’s first major bottling, matured for 3 years across first-fill Tennessee whiskey barrels, first-fill Oloroso hogsheads and refill whisky hogsheads. Bottled in 2022 at 46.5% ABV. 8,000 bottles.
- Batch 01/19 – the third release, from a 2019 vintage cut short by a fire in the biomass fuel store. Matured for 4 years across red wine, Moscatel and Marsala casks. Bottled in 2023 at 46.5% ABV. 12,000 bottles.
- New Make Spirit – raw GlenWyvis spirit reduced to 63.5% ABV, sold as a comparison dram alongside the matured releases.
Distillery info:
Detail |
Information |
|---|---|
| Name | GlenWyvis |
| Region | Highland |
| Country | Scotland |
| Logo |  |
| Status | Active |
| Founded | 2015 |
| Water source | On-site borehole |
| Malting floor | No |
| Owned by | GlenWyvis Distillery Ltd) |
| Address |
Upper Dochcarty, |
| Visitor centre | No |
| Website | https://www.glenwyvis.com/ |
| https://www.twitter.com/glenwyvis | |
| https://www.facebook.com/GlenWyvis/ | |
| https://www.instagram.com/glenwyvis/ | |
| https://www.linkedin.com/company/glenwyvis-distillery/ | |
| YouTube | https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEvME7FmUEGNVnkiqQ1wg9A |
| Community | GlenWyvis Community Benefit Society |
| Map |
Distillery Setup:
Component |
Capacity |
Quantity |
|---|---|---|
| Mash tun | 0.5 tonnes | 1 (semi-lauter, stainless steel) |
| Washback | 4,400 litres | 6 (stainless steel) |
| Wash still | 2,500 litres | 1 |
| Spirit Still | 1,700 litres | 1 |
| Expected yearly output in LPA (Litres of pure alcohol) | 140,000 |