Uile-bheist Distillery and Brewery, the £7.5m distillery which opened in February becoming the first distillery to open in Inverness in 130 years has made 3 senior appointments to help oversee the next phase of growth.
With commissioning complete, and the first beers selling with its maiden single malt due to be casked shortly, they have appointed a General Manager, Head Distiller, and Head Brewer.
New General Manager, highlander Donnie Christian, has 30 years of experience as an award winning retail and Visitor Experience manager in Ireland and Scotland.
He returned to the highlands following the pandemic after helping transform the retail operation at Dublin City University, including developing an award-winning franchise of convenience store brand, Londis.
His immediate priorities will be to maximise the retail potential of the Uile-bheist products and cement the ‘brew-stillery’ as an Inverness and highland tourist attraction.
New Head Distiller Andrew Shearer has a Masters in Distilling and Brewing and worked as a whisky quality analyst for Glen Turner before becoming Head Distiller at Kinrara in the Cairngorms National Park.
He is overseeing the production of Uile-bheist’s first single malt whilst Andrew Hodgson is spearheading the brewing side following 7 years of experience with Black Isle Brewery and Tempest Brewing Co. in the Borders.
The company’s first small-batch craft beers, ‘Inverness Lager’ and ‘Forest Dweller’ IPA are now on the market and are selling in the on-site tap room and local hotels, while production of its first ‘Dark Horse’ highland stout is underway.
“What we have here is pretty unique. We want to maximise its potential, but do that in a way which is sustainable. This informs all of our processes,” said new GM, Donnie Christian.
“We’ve got a fantastic new team, with our 2 Andrews, who are adapting the distilling and brewing process around our sophisticated Kaspar Schulz technology, from Germany.
“Ultimately, we want products we are proud of and production is developing nicely. We also want to help make Inverness – one of the fastest growing UK cities- a base which visitors want to stay in and enjoy.”