If you haven’t heard of GlenWyvis, then you’re missing one of the feel-good stories of the spirit world. The brain-child of John Mckenzie, founding director of GlenWyvis Community Benefit Society and a local farmer, he sought to restore the rich tradition of whisky distilling Dingwall held for several centuries, before it ended around 90 years ago when the town’s Ben Wyvis Distillery closed. His idea was simple, make it the country's first ever community-owned distillery. Except, on reflection, that actually isn’t that simple at all really, is it?
Regardless, he managed to pull it off, and the plan was a roaring success. GlenWyvis Distillery (named after former local distilleries Glenskiach & Ben Wyvis), managed to raise more than £2.6 million from over 2,600 investors, making it officially the world’s only distillery to be 100% owned by the local community. An incredible 15,000 or-so shareholders invested from as far afield as Brazil and Australia, but even more amazingly, a whopping 63% of them came from IV postcode areas across the Highlands. If the ability to attract global appeal, while also beginning process of restoring local pride and economic stability, wasn’t impressive enough, the plan for the distillery is for it to be 100% powered by green, renewable energy.
So, what will a GlenWyvis malt whisky will taste like? Well, we shouldn’t have to wait too long to find out. The stills and distilling equipment only arrived in July 2017, and the build phase was completed in November 2017, so the first run of GlenWyvis whisky should follow shortly after. However, in the meantime, you can enjoy the range of GlenWyvis Gin, or even try and own part of the company...
Yep, that’s the thing about a community owned distillery, the chance to invest is never far away. GlenWyvis Distillery opened opened another share offer in July 2017, seeking investment in return for a share in the company with a target of £750,000, in order to meet continuing demand from locals and visitors who want to be part of the project. Maybe you could be one of them, who among us hasn’t dreamed of being part of real-life whisky distillery after all...