More than a decade since the ‘pipe-dream’ idea was first conceived by wine merchant Ian Stirling, and finance director Paddy Fletcher over a dram in Milroy’s whisky bar, London, the £12m nine-storey vertical Port of Leith distillery, is complete, and tour bookings are being taken, as it gets ready to open to the public on October 11. It is set to be the biggest tourist attraction to be built in Leith for decades, with a projected 25,000 visitors in its first year, increasing to 160,000 by 2025.
The top floor mezzanine bar, also opening on the same day, with panoramic 360 views over the city, a floor to ceiling back whisky bar and a menu of small plates, is designed to showcase Scotland’s world class ingredients.
Ian Stirling, Co-Founder of Port of Leith Distillery said,”Building a distillery of our own has been an ambition of Paddy and mine for over 10 years so to see the project finally come to fruition is a surreal moment for us.
“We never set out to build a vertical distillery – the shape and size of the building is a product of the tiny site we were able to secure. We wedged our distillery tower into Edinburgh’s historic harbour to make our building as accessible as possible to people who, like us, love whisky.
“We’ve spent a lot of time thinking about how to make the Port of Leith tour as special as we possibly can and look forward to welcoming fans across the globe to a whisky experience like no other.”
Paddy Fletcher, Co-Founder of The Port of Leith Distillery added, “Coming from Edinburgh, we were always confused as to why there were no single malt distilleries operating in the city.
“Being able to build something modern and different has been an enormous treat; hopefully it will encourage people to take a second look at Scotch whisky as there’s huge amounts of innovation and excitement going on within the industry.”
The distillery is creating up to 50 long term local jobs, with the capacity to produce one million bottles of whisky per year.
