Exciting plans afoot for a sustainable gin and whisky distillery on Barra

Some really exciting and welcome news from Isle of Barra Distillers as they have released plans to build a new purpose-built Whisky and Gin Distillery and Visitor Centre on the Isle of Barra. And everyone can be a part of it by investing to help make it happen!

The plans are that the distillery will house a one-ton single malt installation and re-home the existing 300 litre Gin still “Ada” with all necessary plant for bottling and bonded warehousing.  The centre will be a welcome boost for tourism on the island, and will also provide a small café / bar, visitors experience and retail area, and it’s sure to attract gin and whisky lovers from around the globe. learn more about the proposed whisky production and investment opportunities here.

The estimated cost of the build is £5m, which is expected to generate Whisky sales of at least £29.8m within the first 10 years and with the facility expected to create at least 30 new jobs within the fragile Island community of Barra, it’s a hugely worthwhile venture. The plans also ensure the plant is powered by renewable energy, built with sustainable materials and the company aims to develop a green travel plan to limit the number of visitors driving to the site.

Along with the production facilities to produce over 300,000 bottles of single malt, they will have a visitor centre, shop, café/ bar area; a place that will welcome families with children to join the team to be part of their unique distillery story. The café/bar will focus on local produce; from freshly caught local seafood and shellfish to local lamb and beef, this will be a place that will celebrate the riches on Barra’s doorstep.

Distilled on the edge of the Atlantic & matured with the salt in the air, the Barra single malt whisky will capture the essence of its unique home in each bottle, something that can be shared between family and friends.

Michael Morrison, Managing Director of Isle of Barra Distillers Ltd says:

“For as long as we can remember and certainly since we launched Isle of Barra Distillers, we’ve consistently been asked if we produce whisky because of the name ‘Barra’ and the instant connection people make with Whisky Galore! The famous novel written by Compton Mackenzie while staying on the Isle of Barra, and the subsequent film followed. A key point to why we feel this distillery will be a success is the vital aspect that we have had a product already on the market for three years, our award-winning Barra Atlantic Gin.

This is a vital source of funds while running our distillery, but it is so much more than that. We have amassed a large following across social media, close to 50k current followers and growing. Our customer base has grown 4x in the last 12 months. We currently distribute to two overseas markets with several more to follow in the coming year. All these factors show that we can build a brand from scratch and turn it into a successful operation and that was done at a standing start with very little knowledge. As we are a more experienced young business having grown our business reputation, we can transfer all this knowledge into our new venture with the distillery.”

We’re incredibly excited by this positive news for the Isle of Barra and the prospect of a new gin destination! We wish the team the best of luck in their plans – if you want to learn more about the project and learn how you can invest to become a part of it yourself, visit their website.