Glen Wyvis

GlenWyvis Distillery opened on 30 November 2017 as Scotland's first community-owned distillery. This pioneering venture was the vision of John McKenzie, a former army officer and helicopter pilot known as 'The Flying Farmer.' McKenzie initially mobilized the local community to raise £1 million for a shared wind turbine in Dingwall. The distillery's community crowdfunding campaign launched in 2015, raising £2.6 million in just 77 days. A second round secured an additional £3.8 million from 3,000 investors across 40 countries, with over 60% being local residents and more than 70% from Scotland. 'From the outset, our vision extended beyond merely establishing a distillery,' stated the founders. 'We recognized this as an opportunity for community investors to help revitalize Dingwall while creating a whisky heritage asset owned by the people. When everyone comes together, remarkable things become possible. This wasn't about one person investing £3 million, but about 3,000 people collectively achieving that goal, with all sharing in the benefits.' Profits from the cooperative enterprise are reinvested into community projects, particularly the relocation of the company's gin production from Saxa Vord Distillery on Shetland's Unst island (operational since 2015) to Dingwall, thereby boosting local tourism. Duncan Tate, former manager of Mortlach Distillery and one of the project's earliest investors, oversees the management of both the whisky and gin operations.

The opening of GlenWyvis Distillery marks the return of malt whisky production to Dingwall. This day finally came after the closure of the first GlenWyvis Distillery (1879-1926), the neighboring Glenskiach Distillery (1897-1926), and the second GlenWyvis Distillery (within the Invergordon grain distillery complex, 1965-1977). The first GlenWyvis Distillery was renamed Ferintosh in 1893, built on the Black Isle, two miles southeast of Dingwall. In 1689, supporters of the exiled James II burned down what might have been the world's first 'commercial' distillery, as the owner, Duncan Forbes of Culloden, was a fervent Whig. After the uprising was suppressed, Forbes received compensation from the government, including distilling licenses and whisky tax exemptions. By the 1760s, his descendants occupied two-thirds of the (legal) market. When the family's 'perpetual rights' were revoked in 1785, Robert Burns lamented in 'Scotch Drink': Thee Ferintosh! O sadly lost! Scotland lament frae coast to coast! Now colic grips, an'barkin' hoast ay kill us a' For loyal Forbes; charter'd boast Is ta'enawa.